Through the Eyes of the Reborn Queen
by Feriua
Summary: A new girl has arrived in Domino City, and has joined up with Yugi, Tea, Joey, and It seems though that nothing is simple about this As memories of her past life began to surface, and a mystery cat starts to follow her around new things start to be What new powers are being revealed? What dangers lie within the new threats? YYXOC
1. Chapter 1: The First Day

(A new girl has arrived in Domino City, and has joined up with Yugi, Tea, Joey, and Tristan. It seems though that nothing is simple about this girl. As memories of her past life began to surface, and a mystery cat starts to follow her around new things start to be revealed. What new powers are being revealed? What dangers lie within the new threats?)

Hello everyone I'm Feriua and I wanted to take a second to say a few things before I let you get into my story. First thing this is my very first story be gentle! I've put a lot of blood, sweat, tears, thoughts, and time into this. I appreciate reviews greatly! I ask very nicely for no flaming! If you don't like the story just hit the back button or the nice little "X" button. I'm planning on trying to update on a weekly basis. If I can't I apologize in advance I do go to college and work two jobs. If you have any questions about at all feel free to message! :D I do realize this story starts out a little slow, but I promise it does start to pick up!

Finally I want to introduce you to my pet, Kiyomi! *Steps aside to reveal large deep crimson dragon* I promise she won't hurt anyone. She's very nice unless you make me or her mad. Now without further ado let's get on with the story. Kiyomi please do the disclaimer.

Kiyomi: Feriua does not own any Yu-Gi-Oh characters. All rights belong to their rightful owners. Feriua does own her original characters and plot.

Feriua: Thank you and enjoy! *drags cooked pig over to Kiyomi as a treat*

**Phone Conversation  
**_'Thoughts'_

~Chapter 1: The First Day~

Alara stood in front of her mirror as she prepared herself for her first day at Domino High School. She was glad she only had to attend the four months until the end of the semester so she could get her diploma and be done. Being home schooled while she spent her time in Egypt with her parents meant she didn't have to worry about missing any school. That was a major perk you couldn't beat.

She hated most of the school uniform she had to wear. The bright pink jacket and the bow was what she hated the most. She really hated the color pink and the bow was just way too big. The skirt wasn't too bad as it fell just about mid-thigh. The only thing she did like was the shade of blue that both the skirt and bow was. It was one of her favorite color so it made it a little better altogether.

After finishing adjusting the annoying large bow she moved onto her hair. She couldn't decide if she wanted to wear her long, straight black hair, which fell right at her shoulder blades, up in a ponytail or down. With a sigh Alara finally decided on down since it was a good contrast to her sun kissed skin from all the time she spent in Egypt. Plus the darkness of her hair made her dark green and light blue speckled eyes look brighter and more demanding. She never wore much make up unless it was needed, but she had some business to take care of after school so she only put on a little bit of black eyeliner.

Once finished she walked out into the living room where she had the TV on the duel monsters channel. They were currently talking about the King of Games, Yugi Muto. She had watched all his duels on this channel when she could in Egypt, but it was a channel you could get to rarely work there. She had been watching the channel and catching up on what she could since she got back in Japan Saturday evening.

'_That is one guy I wish I could meet,'_ she thought as she looked down at her deck sitting on the coffee table. _'I wouldn't mind having a short duel with him, and really setting a challenge for myself. The competition in Egypt was pretty easy, but I could never be that lucky in run into him. Especially with what has happened to me recently; luck is definitely not on my side.'_

She grabbed the remote, turned the TV off, and grabbed her two bags to get ready to leave for school. She looked into her extra bag to make sure she remembered to put her change of clothes in there. When she had her meeting later on today she didn't want to wear her school uniform. As she was walking towards the door her cat jumped in her way meowing and demanding attention.

"Alright Nanu, I know you hate to be here alone, but I have to go to school so I can finish this last semester, get my diploma, and be done with it all," she said as she reached down and pet her as she walked past. Alara walked to the front door and grabbed her jacket off the door handle and put it on. Then she picked up the picture of her parents on the end table, and gave them a kiss.

"I miss you guys and love you so much." She set the picture down and headed out the door. It was a short ten minute walk to Domino High School from Alara's apartment. When she got to school she went to the office to pick up her schedule. She looked it over and decided that she could easily pass the classes.

**1****st**** Period-Ancient History  
2****nd**** Period-English 12  
3****rd**** Period-Business Management  
4****th**** Period-Physics  
5****th**** Period-Gym  
6****th**** Period-Lunch  
7****th**** Period-Pre-Calculus**

"Here are the books and gym uniform you need as well," the receptionist said. "We went ahead and got them out for you since the rest of the students already have them."

"Thank you," Alara replied as she grabbed her books and headed to her locker. She put everything in her locker except for her Ancient History and English books. As she shut her locker she heard someone yelling down the hallway. It was a tall blonde with a hint of a Brooklyn accent. He seemed to be having an argument with a guy that had brown hair with a single spike next to him. A girl with short brown hair stepped between them to try and stop them.

"Boys," Alara said with a shake of her head before turning to go to her first class.

The day dragged by as she finished her homework in each class and answered all the teacher's questions with ease. It was finally time for gym class; the one class she didn't mind and would quite enjoy. It always kept her mind sharp and focused. If she was ever upset or had a lot on her mind exercise and quiet meditation was the best way for her to clear her mind and relax.

Alara quickly changed into the gym uniform and pulled her hair up into a ponytail so it wouldn't get in her way. Then she slowly walked out into the gym to meet up with the rest of the class. She saw that both the guys and the girls where in the gym together.

'_Weird isn't girls and boys normally split for gym,'_ Alara thought to herself. Then she heard the coach yelling out to the students.

"Alright everyone normally we would be split for gym class, but since both the girls and guys need to run the mile we just figured for today we would combine together. That way it's done during one class, and then we don't have to worry about again," the coach yelled.

As Alara went over to where the majority of the students had gathered she saw the same three people from earlier. She moved close to the group, but stopped nearby not wanting to catch their attention. She then heard the blonde making a bet with the brunette guy.

"Hey Tristan, I bet I could beat you at our mile run today," the blonde said.

"No way Joey you're too slow," Tristan replied with a smirk.

"I am not, I'm the fastest person here; no one could beat me," Joey replied quickly with grin on his face.

Alara knew she could easily beat him so she decided to introduce herself. Plus it would be funny to watch Joey get beat by a girl.

"Excuse me sorry to interrupt, but did you just say you were the fastest person here?" Alara asked.

"I did…me, Joey Wheeler!" he exclaimed with a confident pose.

"Well, if you don't mind me to join in the betting, but I think I could beat you."

"No way could a girl beat me," Joey said with a smirk as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. "What are you betting?"

"Well, I have ten dollars in my locker. What about that?"

"I accept! So, uh what's your name?"

"My name's Alara; I am a new student here."

"I'm Joey, this is Tristan and Tea."

"Joey Wheeler?" Alara asked.

"Yes the one and only!"

"I follow duel monsters so I just wanted to stay congrats on the runner up in Duelist Kingdom, and at Battle City."

"Hey thanks Alara"

"Hey guys, sorry I'm running late," said a voice behind the group. They turned around to see a spiky haired kid running toward them. Alara recognized him immediately as Yugi Muto. _'Damn, maybe I do still have a little bit of luck,'_ she thought to herself.

"Hey who's this?" he asked as he came to a stop next to the group.

"Alara, she's a new student here," Tea answered. "She just made a bet with Joey that she could beat him in the mile run."

"Well, nice to meet you Alara. Good luck against Joey," Yugi said with a smile.

"Thank you and it's really nice to meet you Yugi. I never thought I would ever go to school with the King of Games," Alara said with a quick wink.

"Alright everybody line up so we can get this started!" the coach yelled out to the students. Joey and Alara went to the front of the line and waited for the go.

"Ready…set…GO!" the coach yelled. With a hard push over Joey and Alara took off ahead of everyone. Yugi saw everyone start around him, but he just kept staring after Alara.

"Yugi, are you ok? Everyone else has started," Tea said looking down at her friend.

"Oh yea," he said as he started to walk slowly and then moved into a slow jog. "I don't know what it is Tea, but something about Alara seems really familiar. I just can't seem to put my finger on it."

"She does seem familiar, but I don't know," Tea replied. "Look Joey is starting to pass Alara now."

Alara watched as Joey passed her and took off around the track. It was all a part of Alara's plan to pace herself. She would let Joey get ahead thinking he was winning and let him tire himself out. Then she would be able to easily pass him in no time. So she just kept her constant even jog and focused on keeping her breath as even as possible.

After about a lap and a half Alara looked around to where Joey was halfway around the track ahead of her. She saw him look back and smile at her. He was so distracted he tripped over his own two feet and almost fell on his face. Alara had to stop herself from falling over and laughing at him. She kept pushing herself and noticed she was gaining ground on him.

Joey was exhausted, but he kept pushing himself. He didn't want to be beaten by a girl; it would be so embarrassing compared to always beaten by Kaiba. Joey passed the coach on his third lap and started on his final, completely out of breath.

'_Alright almost there I can do this,'_ he thought to himself. He looked next to him as he noticed someone running next to him.

"Nyeh! Alara, how did you catch up to me?" Joey asked shocked.

"Well, since you took off so quickly and used up all your energy, you are slowing down, and very easy to catch up to," Alara said keeping the slow pace with Joey.

"Hey Joey!" Tristan said as he came up next to Alara.

"Told you even Tristan caught up," Alara said with a smirk. "Well, I will be seeing you boys at the finish line." Alara used her stored up energy to take off sprinting ahead of them.

"Damn she's really fast," Joey said staring after her.

"You said it man," Tristan agreed.

"Whoa!" Yugi said as Alara sped past him. He looked behind to see Joey looking like he was going to pass out. _'Well, looks like Joey just got beat at something else besides the occasional duel,'_ Yugi thought to himself as he pushed himself to finish his last lap and a half.

'_With how Joey likes to bet on things I wouldn't be too surprised,'_ a deeper voice inside Yugi's head said.

'_You've got that right,'_ Yugi chuckled.

"Alright, Alara you are done for today; Good Job," the coach said as she crossed the finish line. She looked back to see where everyone else was at. Joey and Tristan were finishing the last half of the lap at a slow walk. Tea and Yugi were just starting in on their final lap at a slow jog. Alara walked to the water fountains on the nearby wall. She got a drink of water and splashed some on her face. She walked back towards the track, but stopped by some bleachers that were sitting nearby and leaned against them. She looked up toward the ceiling as she took a deep breath to slow down her breathing. She closed her eye for just a minute as she continued to calm her breathing.

Alara opened her eyes to see Joey and Tristan slowly cross the finish line completely out of breath. They slowly walked to the water fountains following the same she had just done a moment ago. Then they joined Alara by the bleachers before falling to the ground. At the same time Tea and Yugi finished their last lap before doing the same thing and then joining everyone else by the bleachers.

"Great job Alara," Tea and Yugi said as they joined their friends.

"Thanks guys," Alara replied with a smile. She looked down at where Tristan and Joey were still lying on the ground. All she could do was laugh to herself and shake her head.

"Hey Tristan, I'm going to need to borrow ten dollars," Joey said as he sat up.

"No way man!" Tristan yelled as he jumped up.

"Hey Joey, don't worry about it," Alara said quickly.

"But you won fair and square," he said as he stood up.

"Yea, but the look on your face when I passed you was payment enough," Alara said with a laugh. Everybody joined in laughing except Joey who didn't think it was that funny.

"Alright everyone is done so you can go and get changed now," the coach yelled. The group headed toward the doors out of the gym together to get changed before their next class.

"Alara, when do you have lunch?" Tea asked.

"I have it next," Alara answered.

"Would you like to sit with us? We all have lunch next as well."

"Yea, of course!"

"Alright let's all meet outside the cafeteria," Tea said as her and Alara split off to go to the girl's locker room.

Even though Yugi was listening; he was more concentrated on his thoughts. Along with Joey and Tristan he made his way into the boy's locker room. He unlocked his gym locker, pulled out his school uniform, and changed into it. From the back of the locker he pulled out the Millennium Puzzle and put the chain around his neck. He had a disagreement about a month ago with Yami about leaving it in the locker during gym class.

~~Flashback~~  
"No, Yugi I don't feel comfortable with this," Yami said from where he was leaning against Yugi's bedroom wall. Yugi was sitting on his bed looking down at his hands.

"It's not like the locker will be open. It will have a lock on it," he replied as he looked up at Yami.

"Someone could come and cut the lock off," Yami replied sarcastically.

"I highly doubt that," Yugi said rolling his eyes.

"What if something happens and you need my help."

"I don't think much will happen during the time of one hour. Plus, we have been trying to see how far you can project yourself from the puzzle, and how well we can keep our mental connection when I am in not in contact with it. We have been working on that just in case something happens like when Bandit Keith took it about two years ago," Yugi said.

"I know, but we don't know who may be out there wanting to take the puzzle and try to use its power…..like the evil spirit that resides within Ryo's Millennium Ring."

"That is why we came up with these ideas, and have been working on them. Plus, it would be easier for me to participate in gym if I didn't have to worry about the puzzle hitting me in the face while I run," Yugi said with a straight face.

Yami thought about Yugi running with the puzzle during gym. Every thought ended in Yugi getting cuts on his face, black eyes, and more. He couldn't hold back anymore and started busting out laughing.

"What is so funny?" Yugi yelled with frustration. "Are you imagining me with black eyes and cuts all over my face?"

Yami took a deep breath to calm himself before he answered, "Yes…..and I'm sorry I couldn't help it."

"Thanks a lot," Yugi scowled. "So, what will it be?"

"Well with the way your face might look I guess it would be a yes; unless we can figure out a better idea. We don't want your grandpa to have a heart attack if he saw your face, and you had to explain to him you got beat up by the Millennium Puzzle," Yami said with a small snicker.

"Alright that's enough lets go back to practicing you projecting yourself from the puzzle," Yugi said as he took off the puzzle and laid it down on his desk.  
~~End Flashback~~

"What's the matter Yugi?" Yami asked as he appeared next to him.

"Oh, it is nothing. I just feel like I know Alara from somewhere, but I just can't figure it out," Yugi replied as he started walking towards the cafeteria.

"Who's Alara?" Yami asked as his curiosity started to grow.

"She is a new girl that just started in school today," Yugi replied.

"Hhmm I wouldn't mind meeting this girl."

"Maybe you will, but I don't think we should just start switching places all of a sudden in front of her. It might freak out," Yugi said.

"Of course, but maybe a little later I can. Until then maybe I will just watch from the sidelines," Yami said with a small smile. Yugi stopped just as he reached the corner of the hallway across from the cafeteria.

"Hey Yug!" Yugi looked up as he heard Joey call him. "Why didn't you wait for us?" Joey asked as him and Tristan stopped next to him.

"Sorry I was thinking about something and didn't realize I just kept walking," Yugi said with a smile as he rubbed the back of his head.

"It's alright man."

"Hey guys, thanks for waiting for us," Tea said as her and Alara walked up to them.

"No problem," Joey replied. The boys turned and headed towards the cafeteria as the girls followed close behind. Alara stopped short as something caught her attention that shouldn't even be possible. She was looking down at Yugi's, Joey's, and Tristan's shadow. Even though there was three bodies she was counting four shadows, and the second shadow was connected to Yugi.

"What the hell?" Alara whispered to herself.

"What's wrong?" Tea asked as she stopped and noticed Alara had stopped walking. The boys heard Tea speak to Alara and turned around to see what was going on.

"Oh it was nothing I just thought I saw something," Alara replied quickly as she looked up and saw everyone staring at her.

"Come on then before all the good stuff is gone," Joey said as he turned and took off into the cafeteria with Tristan right behind him. Alara shook her head and walked in with Yugi and Tea. As they started towards the doors of the cafeteria Yugi noticed that Yami was standing next him still. He seemed to be staring intently at Alara. Yugi knew when he was that focused he was thinking deeply about something. As Yugi made his way through the lunch line he started to talk to Yami through their mental connection; since he had already returned to the puzzle when they entered the cafeteria.

'_What was with you staring so intently at Alara?'_ Yugi asked.

'_I didn't mean to. I just know what you mean when you said you couldn't figure out where you recognized her from. She seems very familiar to me too, but I don't know why,_' Yami replied as Yugi felt his confusion wash over him.

'_But you have never met her before so it is weird that you should even feel like that,'_ Yugi replied.

'_I know, but I feel like I know her.'_

'_Maybe someone you recognize from your past. Like she is a reincarnation of someone; kind of like how I am supposed to be a reincarnation of you,'_ Yugi said as he sat down at his table. Everyone else had already made it through the lines and was eating.

'_Maybe, but I'm not sure,'_ Yami said as he receded to think and let Yugi eat. Alara looked on in shock as she watched Tristan and Joey inhale their food.

She leaned over to Yugi and asked, "Do they always eat like this?"

Yugi looked over at the two boys, laughed, and answered, "Oh yea this is a normal daily thing for them."

"You guys are seriously ridiculous. You act like you haven't eaten in a month," Tea said between bites.

"Yea so what; it feels like it's been that long since we last ate too," Joey said around mouthfuls. All Tea could do was shake her head and continue eating.

"So Alara, where did you move her from?" Yugi asked.

"Egypt," Alara answered.

"That's cool. Did you attend a school there?" Tea asked next.

"No I was home schooled. With all the work that my parents did we moved around a lot so it was too hard for me to attend a normal school."

"Are you finding any of the subjects difficult?"

"No, I have learned just about everything already so it's all pretty easy for me."

"If you learned everything then why are you attending school?" Yugi asked curiously.

"Well my parents wanted me to attend a normal public school for the last semester so I could get my diploma the right way."

"So you are basically considered a senior and will be graduating with us at the end of May," Tea stated.

"Yes," Alara said as a large burp came from Joey's wide open mouth.

"Excuse you Joey!" Tea yelled at him.

"Sorry, 'scuse me," Joey replied while snickering.

"So, guys do we have any plans for after school today?" Tea continued on.

"Well I know I want to go to the museum," Yugi said thoughtfully.

"Why is that Yug?" Joey asked.

"Well I saw something in the paper saying that they were putting a few more new artifacts out from Egypt. They are supposed to have quite a few pieces that have duel monsters on them. I just thought they would be really cool to check out." Yugi replied.

"Hey that doesn't sound like a bad idea," Tristan said.

"Alright why don't we all go to the museum; Alara would you like to join us?" Tea said.

"I would love to, but I have to meet with someone right after school. Maybe we can do something later this week or this weekend. I know I should be free for sure," Alara said with a small smile.

'_If only they knew that it was by my parents' hands that those new artifacts are available to be displayed,'_ she thought to herself sadly. When the bell rang the group went and threw out their trash, and walked out into the hallway.

"We'll see you after class Yugi," Tea said as she headed down the hall to her next class.

"See ya later man," both Tristan and Joey said as they headed in the opposite direction that Tea went.

"So Alara what class do you have next?" Yugi asked.

"I have Pre-Calculus," Alara replied.

"Me too! Would you like to walk to class together?"

"Sure, but I just need to stop by my locker to grab my book."

"Ok lead the way," Yugi said with a warm and friendly smile. As Alara stepped past Yugi and started down the hallway she glanced down at the large, golden pyramid that was around his neck. She was still in awe over the pendant from when she first spotted it when they met up in front of the cafeteria.

Alara and Yugi arrived to their class about a minute before the bell rang. Yugi took his normal seat toward the front of the class by the window. Alara took an empty desk in the next row over towards the back. She read over what the teacher had written on the board; it was the chapter they would be going through and the homework. She opened her book and worked through the homework in about thirty minutes. She closed her book, set it aside, and let her mind wander as she waited for class to end.

'_This day has been a lot more eventful then I thought it would be,'_ Alara thought. She looked over at Yugi who seemed to be scratching his head in frustration. _'I would really like to ask him how he got the Millennium Puzzle. I didn't think it actually existed anymore. I had seen hieroglyphs that depicted it and they mentioned the large amount of power it contains along with the other Millennium Items. We couldn't find it or any of the other Items in the Nameless Pharaoh's tomb. My parents and I had assumed it was stolen by tomb robbers long ago and then eventually lost in time. I wouldn't mind examining it to make sure it is not a fake either, but I don't think it is. I can almost feel a strong power that just radiates off of it.'_

"Yugi do you know the answer to number ten?" the teacher asked bringing Alara's attention back to the front.

"Uh is it 10.6?" Yugi slowly dragged out. He knew he had the wrong answer before the teacher even said anything.

"I'm sorry that is incorrect. Alara do you know the answer?" the teacher said as he turned and looked at her.

"12.4," Alara answered.

"That is correct, good job," he answered and turned around to the board and continued with the next problem.

'_Damn it,'_ Yugi thought to himself.

'_Easy Yugi,'_ said a low whisper in the back of his mind.

'_Sorry Yami, I just don't think I will ever get this figured out and pass this class,' _Yugi continued in frustration.

'_Maybe you should ask Alara for help. It seems she knows how to do the work,'_ Yami said.

'_I could, but I think I might wait just a little bit and see if I can figure any of it out on my own,'_ Yugi thought as he glanced over his shoulder at Alara before looking back to his work in front of him.

Alara rubbed her eyes to try and make sure her mind wasn't playing tricks on her again. She had noticed haziness behind Yugi right before he glanced back at her. She sighed to herself as she looked again out of the corner of her eye and saw nothing was there.

'_I have an idea what it might be, and if I am right it means I need to do some of my meditation when I get home. I love the fact I have this gift, but it is truly becoming a nuisance. If I don't keep up on my meditations and put mental barriers around my third sight I start seeing them again,'_ Alara thought to herself with a small sigh_. 'Seeing spirits got pretty annoying at times. The first ones I normally see are the powerful ones that don't really bother anyone and just seem to be passing through. They are usually just protective guardians of the loved ones that they follow. If I don't put my barriers up within a few days I start seeing the ones that are there to cause trouble and most of them have pretty evil intentions; those were always the worst. They seemed to know when I could see them, and would bug the living shit out of me. Normally I would only put the barrier up for the second group, but I started putting them all up right before I returned from Egypt. There were just some people I was afraid to see.'_

The bell rang suddenly signaling the end of class and bringing Alara out of her thoughts. She grabbed her stuff and started to head to the front of the room to leave.

"Hey Alara, we'll see you tomorrow right?" Yugi asked with a smile as he stood up preparing to leave.

"Yea, and Yugi will you pass my thanks to everyone else," Alara said as she returned the smile.

"What for?"

"Well not to sound super cheesy or anything, but I wanted to say thanks for you guys basically taking me right into your group. I didn't really expect to meet people so nice and make friends on my first day of school." She felt a small blush cross her face, but she didn't know why she was blushing. She just hoped that Yugi didn't notice.

"I'll tell them, and it was nothing. What are friends for?" he said with a smile.

"Thanks, well I have to leave to go meet someone so I'll see you tomorrow," Alara said as she headed toward the door.

"Bye Alara see you tomorrow!"

Alara walked quickly to her locker, tossed her books in, and grabbed her other bag with her change of clothes in it. She stopped by the bathroom and changed into the other clothes. She put on a purple blouse, a black pleated skirt that stops mid-thigh, black knee high boots with a slight heel, and two plain gold bangles on each wrist. Then she headed out of the bathroom and towards the front of the school. As she passed the office, close to the front doors, she glanced at the clock and saw she was already running late. She was worried that she wasn't going to make it to the museum on time. Plus since she knew Yugi, Tristan, Joey, and Tea were going she wanted to get ahead of them.

'_They might find it weird if they see me there when I told them I couldn't make it. I just hope that woman will be ready and waiting for me. I know sometimes she tends to be running late and it feels like it's on purpose,'_ Alara thought as she picked up her speed. As she stepped out the door her cellphone begin to ring. She pulled it out of her bag and answered it.

"**Alara….yes Alex I am on my way I am walking out of the school now. Is she already there?...Well hopefully she will be there by the time I arrive I would like to get this meeting done and out of the way…okay bye."** She hung up the phone, tossed it back into her bag, and continued across the courtyard. Alara heard a small commotion to her left. She glanced as she kept walking to see Tea smack Joey and Tristan across the back of the head. Yugi was standing next to them just laughing.

'_I wonder what they did to make Tea mad,'_ Alara thought with a chuckle, and continued on her way.

"Well that was nice of her to say," Tea said after Yugi told them what Alara said when they met up outside.

"Speaking of Alara there she goes," Tristan said as he pointed across the courtyard.

"She changed her clothes and she looks…"Joey started.

"…freaking hot!" Tristan finished. Tea smacked them both on the back of the head. Yugi couldn't help, but start laughing at them.

'_Although, I do agree she does look really nice,'_ Yugi thought to himself.

"Seriously guys give some respect," Tea said harshly.

"We are it's just a compliment," Joey said as him and Tristan rubbed their heads.

"Ok guys how about we starting making our way to the museum," Yugi said. Joey and Tristan mumbled in agreement as they started to walk towards the front gate.


	2. Chapter 2: The Museum

I decided to go ahead and post chapter 2 & 3 to help pick it up since the first chapter kind of stops at a dead point. So here you go ! XD

Kiyomi: Feriua does not own any Yu-Gi-Oh characters. All rights belong to their rightful owners. Feriua does own her original characters and plot.

~Chapter 2: Museum~

Alara was slightly out of breath when she finally reached the museum. She had walked at a fast pace to keep ahead of the gang that she knew wouldn't be too far behind her. She headed up the stairs and saw her parent's assistant, Alexandria, waiting outside the front doors.

"You made it here very quickly," Alex said as Alara stopped next to her.

"Yea I just want to get this done and over with. I am ready to go home," Alara said as she headed towards the front doors.

Alex followed behind her and asked, "Was it a rough first day at school?"

"No it went really well. Just a couple of weird things happened, but nothing major," Alara replied. They made their way to the back of the Egyptian and Duel Monster exhibit, and stopped near a hallway that leads deeper into the museum. This was where they were supposed to meet the coordinator to sign the last amount of paperwork about all the exhibits her parents had. It wasn't just covering the ones here in Domino City, but all of them across the world.

About ten minutes had passed and Alara was starting to get anxious. It wasn't helping she could see Yugi and the gang making their way through the exhibit. She was still staring down through the exhibit when she heard someone speak.

"Miss Deya?" said a woman with a slight accent. Alara turned to see a tan woman with long black hair.

"Miss Ishtar," Alara replied with a nod.

"Welcome back to Domino City. I know it has been many years since you were last here."

"Yes the last time I was here I was very young; although I don't remember much."

"I give my condolences to you I know there was a sudden and tragic accident."

"Thank you," Alara said as she took a deep breath and fought back the tears that tried to show.

"Is the excavation crew still working at the dig site?" Ishizu asked.

"Yes they are fixing the hallway that collapsed." Alara replied.

"Which one was that?"

"There was the one main hallway that leads out of the main chamber. After about a hundred feet the hallway split into three different ways. The center one was the one that collapsed. While that is being fixed they are also exploring the other two tunnels, and if anything is found they are going to contact Alex first. Then she will tell me what they found so I don't have to worry about them calling me during school."

"What do you believe will be down these hallways?"

"I think two hallways are dead ends and one holds the tomb of the Lost Lover of the Nameless Pharaoh."

"Where was it again that you found the main chamber?"

"It was behind a hidden door in the wall within the Nameless Pharaoh's tomb. I had leaned against a pillar and accidently hit a small switch that was hidden behind it."

"That's very interesting, but why do you think it is the tomb of a Lost Lover of the Nameless Pharaoh?" Ishizu asked.

"We read some of the hieroglyphs that were right inside the door. It talks a little bit about a woman who was betrothed to the Pharaoh. But she died before they could be married," Alara replied.

"Well I hope they get the tunnel fixed quickly so you may find out what is at the end of that tunnel. I am assuming that you would like to get this paperwork filled out and get home to rest. Did you complete the rest of the paperwork before you left Egypt?"

"Yes, the rest of it was completed the day before I left. There wasn't much to fill out since almost everything was said to be transferred to me within their will as my inheritance."

"Very well, if you will follow me to my office then we can finish the last part of it," Ishizu said as she turned and headed down the hallway. Alex started ahead of Alara, and she followed close behind her; as she tried not to notice the young teen that was staring at her through the display cases.

~~~~5 minutes earlier~~~~

Yugi and the gang were making their way through the Egyptian exhibit to the back where the Duel Monsters section was at. Yugi liked to stop every so often and look at the different Egyptian artifacts. He stopped to look at a mummy when he heard Tea come up next to him.

"Can we just move along now? I don't like these mummies they really creep me out," Tea said as a shiver ran up her back.

"Tea they're not going to hurt you," Yugi said as he turned to look at her.

"I don't care let's go!" she said as she grabbed him by the arm and dragged him away to where Tristan and Joey were at in the Duel Monsters section.

"Tea you don't have to rip my arm off," Yugi said as rubbed his arm when she finally let go.

"This one looks like the Soldier of Stone," Tristan said as he pointed to one carving.

"Whoa, that one kinda looks like Curse of Dragon," Joey said. Joey and Tristan continued trying to guess what duel monster was on each carving. If they didn't agree they argued about it for a minute before moving on. Tea only half listened to their arguing just enjoying the time she was spending with her friends. No one really noticed Yugi move a little deeper into the exhibit as he was drawn by some voices that sounded very familiar to him.

As he rounded one display he could see through the glass of others and saw a group of three people talking at the back of the exhibit. The tall blonde he didn't recognize, but the girl standing next to her was Alara.

_'This is where she was supposed to be meeting someone. I wonder who it is.'_ Yugi thought to himself.

_'Looks like she is talking to Ishizu,'_ Yami said as he appeared next to Yugi. Yugi shifted so he could get a better view through the display cases.

_'It is I wonder what she is talking to her about. Also, why did it seem like she had to be so secretive about it earlier,'_ Yugi said.

_'I'm not sure,'_ Yami replied. Yugi and Yami watched as Ishizu walked away and the tall blonde followed. Alara paused for a second before following behind them. Yugi could have sworn that she looked right at him out of the corner of her eye, but he couldn't be a hundred percent.

"Hey Yug what are ya staring at?" Joey asked and as he came up next to him.

"Oh nothing….I just got lost in thought," Yugi replied with a smile and a small laugh.

"Ok…" Joey said kind of confused on why it seemed like his friend was hiding something.

"Hey Yugi you might want to come and look at this," Tea said from where she was standing by the far wall to his right.

"What is it Tea?" Yugi asked as he walked over to her.

"I think I found out why you recognized Alara this afternoon. Look at that picture over there," Tea replied pointing a few feet down the wall. Yugi walked over and looked at the photo. He gasped as he recognized her immediately. She was standing with two other people in the picture, a man and a woman.

"That is definitely her, and this picture looks like it was taken in Egypt," Yugi replied. He'd seen the photo before the last time he was here, but didn't pay too much attention to it. He looked next to the photo that had a small paragraph next to it.

"What does it say Yugi?" Tristan asked.

"These artifacts were found by the archeologist Professor Nashira Deya, Professor Nebrus Deya and with the help of their daughter Alara Deya," Yugi started.

"That must be her parents that are in the picture with her then," Tea said.

Yugi nodded as he continued reading. "Some of these artifacts were found in different pyramids and tombs located throughout Egypt. Most of them were found and brought from the Tomb of the Nameless Pharaoh. The Nameless Pharaoh is their current focus as they try to discover who this young Pharaoh was, and the story behind why his name was not recorded on his tomb. They hope to bring new discoveries and artifacts soon."

"I wonder why she didn't tell us her parents are famous archeologist," Joey said after a few seconds of silence.

"Maybe she just didn't want anyone to know," Tea replied.

"What do you mean?" Tristan asked.

"Well her parents are famous for their discoveries. Since she does help with them she is famous in a way too. So maybe she just doesn't want all of that attention," Tea said thoughtfully.

"That makes sense, but I have a feeling there is something else besides just that," Yugi said.

"What do you mean Yug?" Joey asked next.

"I just have a feeling there's another reason that she doesn't want people to know who she really is," Yugi said.

"Do you think something could have happened?" Tea asked.

"I don't know, but if she's not ready to tell anyone or doesn't want to I don't think we should push the subject. It could really upset her. If she wants to tell us she will tell us on her own." Every nodded in agreement and they moved on to look at the rest of the exhibit.


	3. Chapter 3: A Familiar Face

Kiyomi: Feriua does not own any Yu-Gi-Oh characters. All rights belong to their rightful owners. Feriua does own her original characters and plot.

~Chapter 3: A Familiar Face~

"Alright and here is the last one," Ishizu said as she slid a piece of paper across the desk to Alara. She quickly read through it to make sure everything was correct, then signed, and handed it back.

"Thank you Alara for coming down right away and getting these papers signed," Ishizu said as she placed the final paper on the small stack. Then she placed them in a folder and put it in a file cabinet that she locked afterwards. "Unless you would like to look around the museum I would be happy to walk you out."

"Thank you, I would love to look around, but it has been a long day and I am ready to go home and rest," Alara said with a small smile.

Ishizu opened the door and said, "After you." Alara walked out followed by Alex and waited as Ishizu locked the door behind her.

"Alara, would you like me to give you a ride home since it is quite chilly out and it would be a far walk otherwise?" Alex asked.

"Yes, thank you," Alara replied. Ishizu walked past and led them to the front of the museum, out the front the doors, and stopped at the top of the steps.

"I want to wish you luck on continuing the work on the dig, and I hope that you find more answers about the Nameless Pharaoh and his lost lover," Ishizu said.

"Thank you," Alara said as she turned and followed Alex to her car.

Ishizu watched them walk away, but a sound to her left caught her attention. She looked over to the wall next to the museum to see a cat sitting there staring at her. The cat was all black with bright golden yellow eyes. Around its neck looked to be a collar that was made of gold and a charm that look like an eye hanging from it. The collar reminded her of the Millennium Necklace as she instinctively put her hand on her neck. Even though the necklace was no longer there since she had given it to Yugi back at the Battle City Tournament.

_'Why does something seem familiar about this cat?'_ Ishizu thought to herself. _'Maybe it is…but there is no way. It was said they died off long ago.'_ She was thinking about stories that her father told her when she was young about guardians of the royal family of Egypt. She was brought out of her thoughts when the cat let out a loud meow. She watched it stand up and walk to the edge of the wall. As it walked the sun bounced off the fur and gave it a purple tint. The cat gave one last glance back before jumping down and running down the street. Ishizu stared after it until it disappeared around a corner and then she headed back inside the museum.

~~~~In front of Alara's apartment~~~~

The black cat was running as fast as her legs could carry her. Running for almost ten miles straight trying to keep up with a car was exhausting.

_'I can't lose her again. I have to know where she lives so we can keep an eye on her. It's one of the easiest things to do and if I fail again I think Isamu will be even angrier with me than last time,'_ she thought to herself. She saw the car come to a stop ahead of her so she ran into an alley across the street to be able to watch where Alara went. It would also give her the time to catch her breath.

"Thanks again Alex," Alara said as she got out of the car. She walked up to her apartment and checked the mail box on the wall for anything. She pulled out the single envelope and then went inside. She dropped everything on her bed, grabbed something more comfortable for the night, and jumped in for a quick shower. Alara walked into the kitchen and grabbed something to drink out of the fridge closely followed by Nanu meowing at her.

"Alright Nanu I'll get you something to eat," Alara said as she got her food out of the cabinet and filled her bowl.

_'Ok let's get this meditation done,'_ Alara thought to herself as she walked in the living room. She put her glass down on the coffee table and carefully pushed it back against the TV giving her more room on the floor. She put her Ipod on her dock and turned it to Sounds of Nature Rainforest. Then she lit the jasmine incents that were next to the dock. She sat down and crossed her legs, relaxed her arms in her lap, and closed her eyes. She took long, slow deep breaths enjoying the scents of jasmine. She listened to the sounds of rain and birds coming from her Ipod. With everything together she started to relax both mentally and physically.

As her mind was clearing she moved mentally moved through her mind looking for the wall towards the back. She finally saw it start to appear through the darkness and shadows. It looked like a tall stone wall, something that would seem simple to break down, but with all her fortifications that she had put in it nothing could really break it down. She moved around the wall inspecting it and except for one medium sized crack; there was no major break down. She fixed the crack and returned to her true consciousness.

_'Weird there was no large amount of break down, but I thought I saw a spirit around Yugi twice today,'_ Alara thought. _'Maybe it is just an extremely powerful spirit I can still see even with my barriers up. Although it is weird that someone so powerful like that could truly exist._ I_f that is the case it's something I've never seen before.'_

Alara opened her eyes and was startled by Nanu sitting on the coffee table just staring at her. Then she noticed the envelope she got out of the mail earlier in her mouth.

"Nanu why is this in your mouth?" Alara asked as she took the envelope out of her mouth. "I swear you're the weirdest cat sometimes, but that's why I love you." Alara gave her a quick scratch under the chin, and then Nanu curled up in her lap and began to purr.

Alara looked at the front of the envelope and thought, _'That's weird it's address to me, but there is no return address. I wonder why whoever sent this didn't put their address on it. Let's see what's inside._' She opened the envelope and pulled out a letter and one duel monster card. She set the card down on the table face down and proceeded to read the letter first.

_Dear Miss Alara Deya, I hope you are doing well. I want to first pass my condolences to you over the most recent tragic accident. Now then I would like to move on to the true purpose of this letter and the card that was included. This card is part of two gifts from me. The first one I have given you and the second will be given in time when you have proved you are worthy. The first card I hope that you would include in your deck. I think it would be a wonderful addition and prove to be a valuable asset. The second when you receive it in time it will become a powerful and helpful card. That is what I was told by some close friends of mine that will become close friends of yours very soon. Anyways dear child I hope you find more about what's in the room that was hidden within the Nameless Pharaoh's tomb. I hear that is has some great importance to you. ~M_

Alara read through the letter twice more and was still just as confused. The person who had written this letter had said things that they shouldn't even know at all. First was the accident and second the fact they had found the hidden room within the Nameless Pharaoh's tomb. Both of these things were supposed to remain a secret and only people that Alara approved were to know.

"One way or another I'll find out who this is," Alara said out loud with determination. She put the letter back into the envelope and went to pick up the card. When she touched the card she felt a shock go through her hand.

_'Ow that was weird. Hhmm maybe I just had a static build up from sitting on the floor,'_ she thought as she slowly picked the card up. She flipped the card over and looked over the card; Queen's Guardian, attack points 2100 defense points 1800. The picture was a woman with long dark hair and a pair of large white angel wings on her back. She wore a long flowing light blue dress that was attached to a sliver necklace around her neck. From the necklace small chains dropped down, went across her arms, and went towards her back assuming that is where they reconnected.

"That's weird I have never seen or heard of this card," Alara thought out loud. "I'm guessing that it must be a rare card then, but why would a random stranger give it to me."

She put the card next to her deck on the coffee table and then moved it back to its original place. Alara looked at the clock on the wall and was shocked to see that it was almost ten o'clock at night. She turned off her Ipod and started to head toward her bedroom when a noise from outside caught her attention.

She looked out the back door to see what looked like a black cat with a golden eye around its neck on her balcony staring back at her. She took a step toward the door but the cat jumped down from her balcony. Alara ran toward the door, threw it open, and stepped out onto the balcony. She looked over the edge hoping that she wasn't going to see a dead cat. She was relieved to see the cat sitting on the sidewalk behind her apartment safe and sound. She watched as the cat took a few steps into a street light. The cat's fur seemed to be reflecting a purple tint to it.

_'That's weird a cat's fur is not supposed to have a purple tint to it,_' Alara thought. Then the light from the street lamp hit the collar around the cat's neck. _'That's an odd necklace to put on a cat. It looks as if it's made of gold, and the charm…looks like the Eye of Wdjat!'_ Alara quickly pulled out her phone and took a picture of the cat. Then it quickly took off and disappeared into the shadows.

"Alright, I'm done with today," Alara said with a sigh. "Stuff just keeps getting weirder and weirder. I'm going to bed. I want to have a nice, peaceful night of sleep and hope that this doesn't continue tomorrow."

~~~~The Next Day at Lunch~~~~~

"Alara why don't you tell us more about yourself," Yugi said before taking a bite of his food.

"What would you like to know?" Alara asked.

"What kind of music do you like?"

"A little bit of everything, but mainly rock."

"What kind of books?" Tea asked.

"Fiction"

"What about games?" Joey asked around a mouthful of food.

"Some video games, a few board games, and duel monsters," Alara replied.

"You play duel monsters?" Joey and Yugi asked.

"Yes," Alara said slowly.

"We're going to have to duel," Joey said. "You may have been able to beat me in running, but I doubt you could beat me in duel monsters!"

"Alright, you're on!" Alara said.

"I wouldn't mind a duel as well," Yugi said.

"Why don't we meet up at Yugi's house after school, and you guys could duel," Tea said.

"That'd be cool, but I don't have a duel disk," Alara said.

"If you want you can borrow mine Alara," Yugi said happily.

"You know what I have to go home to get my deck anyways. I'll just buy one on my way to your house."

"Ok that works! Here let me tell you how to get to my house," Yugi said. He explained where the game shop was and had just finished when the lunch bell rang. In no time the rest of the day flew by.

"I'll meet everyone around four o'clock at your house Yugi," Alara said as she was going out the door.

"Ok see you then!"

Alara ran most of the way home. The last block she walked since she had run out of breath so quickly. She headed inside her apartment and changed her clothes really quick. She grabbed a pair of dark blue skinny jeans, light brown t-shirt, chucks, and a belt that hung off her hips to hold her deck. She grabbed her deck off of the coffee table, but stopped and looked at the card she had received last night. She thought about adding it to her deck, but she had no strategy worked out with it.

"I'll take it and see if Yugi has heard of it before," Alara said as she grabbed it and put it in with the rest of her deck. She headed out the door to the nearest store and bought a duel disk. The walk to Yugi's took no time at all since it was just a few blocks from her apartment. She got there in about ten minutes before four, and decided to head on into the shop.

"Welcome to Kame Game…Alara?" said a deep, rough voice. Alara looked toward the back of the shop where she heard the voice. She looked at the older gentlemen behind the counter and recognized him immediately.

"Solomon?" Alara said as a smile started to spread across her face.

"Oh my gosh Alara!" Solomon said as he came around the counter. "I haven't seen you in years! It is so good to see you, and you have grown so much. You look just like your mother." Alara gave the old man a hug. "The last time I really saw you, you were five playing in the sands of Egypt at one of your parent's dig site."

"Yes, I remember it has been a long time. I am just surprised that I never made the connection of the great architect Solomon Muto was the grandfather of the great Yugi Muto."

"Yes, well he learned from the best," he said with a wink. Then Solomon's face fell as he grew sad remembering what he had heard from a colleague. He took Alara's hand in his as he said, "Alara my child I'm so sorry for what happened to your parents. It brings tears to my eyes that two great people have been taken from us. I heard from a colleague what had happened. I would have flown to Egypt in a heartbeat, but I was unable to."

"Thank you so much. I wished you could have been there since you were one of their closest friends," Alara said as she felt tears began to show.

"I know child, but you know that if you need anything at all you just let me know. I consider you like a granddaughter I never had," Solomon said as he wiped the tears that started to run down Alara's face.

"Thank you so much," Alara said as she grabbed the older man in a hug again.

"Grandpa?" a voice came from the back of the store. Alara and Solomon turned to see Yugi walking in the back door. "Oh I see you already met my grandfather. Are you ok Alara you look like you've been crying? Wait Grandpa what did you do?"

"It's fine, he did nothing. I'm just mainly happy to see an old friend again," Alara said drying her eyes.

"What do you mean?" Yugi asked as he tilted his head in confusion.

"I was friends with Alara's parents. We used to work on dig sites together sometimes, and at times I would watch over her when her parents were really busy," Solomon said.

"What are your parents researching?" Yugi asked even though he knew the answer.

"Duel monsters and the Nameless Pharaoh's tomb," Alara said.

"Wait didn't you study that too grandpa?"

"Yes I showed her parents where I found the pharaoh's tomb and other things so they could continue where I left off."

"I'm guessing it was you who found the Millennium Puzzle Solomon?" Alara asked.

"Yes, it was on the pedestal in the same room you found the entrance to the secret room."

"That would make sense," Alara said thoughtfully.

"What…" Yugi started to say before he was cut off by Joey walking in.

"Hey Yug is Alara here yet? I'm so ready to get this duel on!" Joey yelled.

"You're going to duel Joey?" Solomon asked looking at Alara.

"I sure am," Alara said with a smile.

"Would you like to watch grandpa?" Yugi asked.

"Of course I can't pass up a good duel. Especially since I taught Alara how to play when she was a kid," Solomon said as he went and locked the front door to the shop.

"Wait how do you know Alara? How did you teach her? Aaahhh I'm so confused!" Joey yelled while shaking his head.

"We'll catch everyone up later Joey," Alara said as she pulled her duel disk from the box and slid it on her arm. "But right now I think it is time to duel!"


	4. Chapter 4: The Truth

BrightLightsBiggerCity: Thank you so much for the review and for being the first follower! You really made my day! :D

TyrannicalCupcake: Thank you for following!

Alara: Feriua does not own any Yu-Gi-Oh characters. All rights belong to their rightful owners. Feriua does own her original characters and plot

_'Thoughts'_

~Chapter 4: The Truth~

"Alright Joey I'll let you go first," Alara said as she placed her deck in the duel disk.

"Fine with me," he said as he did the same. Both duel disks moved into position and lit up with their life points of 4000.

**Round 1 Joey-4000 Alara-4000**  
**Joey**-Draws; summons Alligator's Sword in attack mode (1500/1200)

**Alara**-draws; summons Volcanic Counter in defensive mode (300/1300) and one card face down

**Round 2 Joey-4000 Alara- 4000**  
**Joey**-draws; summons Swordsman of Landstar in attack mode (500/1200) "Alligator's Sword attack her Volcanic Counter"

Volcanic Counter is destroyed

"You've activated my trap Joey!" Alara said as she activates Backfire. "Since you destroyed my Fire-type monster Backfire inflicts 500 damage to you!

"Fine Swordsman attack her directly!"

**Alara**-draws; summons UFO Turtle in attack mode (1400/1200) "Attack Swordsman of Landstar"

Swordsman of Landstar is destroyed

**Round 3 Joey-2600 Alara-3500**  
**Joey**- draws; "Alligator's Sword attack" UFO Turtle is Destroyed

"Thanks to UFO Turtle's special ability I can summon any Fire monster from my deck with 1500 or less attack points. I chose Flamvell Poun" (200/200); Places one card face down

"Why something so weak?" Joey asked.

"Just watch," Alara said with a smile.

**Alara**- draws; sacrifices Flamvell Poun to summon Hazy Flame Hyppogrif (2100/200) "Attack Hyppogrif!" Alligator's Sword is destroyed

**Round 4 Joey-2000 Alara-3400**  
**Joey**- draws; summons Panther Warrior (2000/1600)

**Alara**- draws; "Attack Hyppogrif!"

"I activate my spell card Scapegoat" One scapegoat is destroyed. Places one card face down

**Round 5 Joey-2000 Alara-3400**  
**Joey**- draws; summons Garoozis (1800/1500) Places one card face down

**Alara**- draws; "Attack Hyppogrif" One scapegoat is destroyed

**Round 6 Joey-2000 Alara-3400**  
**Joey**- draws; Places another card face down

**Alara**- draws; Plays Pot of Greed, Summons Molten Zombie (1600/400) and Neo Flamvell Sabre (1500/200) "Neo attack the scapegoat" One scapegoat destroyed "Zombie attack the scapegoat" Final scapegoat destroyed "Hypogriff attack Panther Warrior"

"I activate my trap card Kunai with Chain, Panther Warrior stops your attack, and destroys you monster since its attack was raised to 2500," said Joey.

**Round 7 Joey-2000 Alara-3000**  
**Joey**- draws; "Garoozis attack Neo Flamvell Sabre" Neo Flamvell Sabre Destroyed "I sacrifice Garoozis for Panther Warrior to attack Molten Zombie" Molten Zombie destroyed

**Alara**- draws; Plays Monster reborn bringing back Hazy Flame Hyppogrif. Summons Flamvell Firedog(1900/200), then sacrifices Hazy Flame Hypogrif and Flamvell Firedog to summon Fire King High Avatar Garunix(2700/1700). Plays Pot of Duality.  
"Garunix attack" "I activate my spell card graceful dice" Dice rolls a one raising Panther Warrior's attack to 2600, and Panther Warrior is destroyed. Plays one card face down

**Round 8 Joey-1900 Alara-2100**  
**Joey**- draws; summons Axe Raider(1700/1150) and Flame Manipulator(900/1000). Sacrifices both to summon Red Eye Black Dragon(2400/2000) Plays Metalmorph increasing Red Eyes to(2800/2400)  
"Red Eyes attack"  
"I activate my trap Nightmare Wheel which stops your attack and any future attacks, you can't change battle positions, and at the beginning each one of my turns this card is still on the field you lose 500 points.

**Alara**- draws; Plays Hand Destruction. Plays Burden of the Mighty each monster on your side loses 100 X your monster's level attack points, Red Eyes loses 700 points(2100/2400) "Garunix attack" Red Eyes is destroyed. Plays card face down.

**Round 9 Joey-800 Alara-2100**  
**Joey**- draws; summons Baby Dragon(1200/700) Plays Time Wizard, wins time roulette. Thousand Dragon(2400/2000) Plays card face down.

**Alara**- draws; summons Volcanic Rocket(1900/1400) "Garunix attack" "I activate Skull Dice" "I activate Phoenix Wing Wind Blast I discard one card and your Skull Dice is returned to the top of your deck." Thousand Dragon is destroyed. "Volcanic Rocket attack and finish his life points

**Final points Joey-0 Alara=2100**

"Great job Alara," everyone said.

"Congrats Alara," Joey said as he gave her a high five. "I just went easy on ya."

"Sure ya did Joey," Alara said with a wink as everyone laughed.

"So are you going to tell us how you know Yugi's grandpa?" Joey said with a huff.

_'She's a strong duelist,'_ Yami said in the back of Yugi's mind. Yugi smiled and nodded in agreement.

"Why don't we go inside and have a cup of tea and we'll tell you," Solomon said as he headed toward the kitchen. After everyone was sitting down in the living room with their cups Solomon started to talk.

"As you all know I did a lot of digs in Egypt mainly around the original duel monsters and the Nameless Pharaoh's tomb. Well a young couple that was both archeologists was interested in the same subject. Their names were Nebrus and Nashira, and they started in their work when Alara was a young child of four. She was very brave, smart, and loved learning about the Egyptian history. If her parents when into a dig site that was too dangerous for her I helped out by watching her and teaching her about duel monsters."

"Which is why you lived most of your life in Egypt," Tristan said to Alara. She nodded her head.

"One thing I have noticed is that you both keep talking about Alara's parents in a past tense. Why?" Tea asked.

Alara looked to Solomon who nodded his head and said, "If you are ok with it go ahead."

"What I am about to tell you everyone must promise not to tell anyone about this unless I say it's ok," Alara said as she looked at everyone.

"We promise," everyone replied.

"I didn't want a lot of publicity since my parents are famous archeologists. I know in the future there will be some because eventually they will find out about a new discovery that was made and its connection to the Nameless Pharaoh. Also both of my parents were killed in a tunnel collapse," Alara said slowly as she tried to not cry.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry Alara," Tea said as she grabbed her in a hug. Yugi could feel that Yami was paying close attention hoping she might have clues to his past.

"What did you find Alara?" Yugi asked after a few minutes of silence. Since Alara was still wrapped in Tea's arms Solomon answered for her.

"They found out that Nameless Pharaoh had a lover that was killed at a young age. She would have been his queen," Solomon said. Everyone looked at Solomon in shock. Yugi could feel Yami's shock and his curiosity growing.

"Is this all true?" Yugi asked the same question that was running through Yami's mind as he looked at Alara.

"We weren't able to do a lot of research before the tunnel collapsed, but from what we saw yes. My team is repairing the collapsed tunnel now and exploring other tunnels. If anything is found they will contact me. I hope to return later on to continue working there myself," Alara said after she had pulled herself from Tea's arms. Everyone sat in silence as they absorbed the information.

_'I already had so many questions about my past, and now it seems like a hundred more have appeared,' _Yami said to Yugi.

_'I know, but from the sound of it she probably doesn't have any new answers,'_ Yugi replied as he put his hand around the puzzle. Yugi looked up to see his grandfather shaking his head, and mouthed "_Not yet"_.

"Oh yea I almost forgot Yugi, I have a question for you," Alara said trying to change the subject to something much lighter. She reached back and pulled out the card from her deck holder.

"What is it?" he asked

"I received this card in the mail yesterday with a letter. My main thing is I have never heard of this card and I wanted to see if you have," Alara said as she handed him the card. Everyone crowded around Yugi to get a look it.

"I haven't heard of it. What about you Grandpa?"

"Can't say I've heard of it either," he replied shaking his head. "Do you know who sent you the card?"

"No," Alara said shaking her head. "The envelope had no return address on it and the letter was signed only with an "M"."

"What did the letter say?" Tea asked.

"It said something about the card being a gift, and I would eventually get another one when I had proven that I was worthy. It also said something about this person having some close friends that would eventually become close friends of mine. But the one thing to top it off was this person knew about my parent's accident and our research in the Nameless Pharaoh's tomb."

"I know you haven't told many people about that until your research is complete. So how is it that someone could get a hold of this information," Solomon said.

"Exactly my point," Alara said as she crossed her arms.

"What about rich boy?" Joey asked.

"Kaiba? I highly doubt it he isn't that generous, and he isn't interested in the Egyptian history," Yugi said with a shake of his head. Everyone continued to think in silence for a few minutes.

"Well, I'm tired so I am going to head to home and I'll see you all at school tomorrow," Alara said as she stood up breaking the silence. Everyone mumbled their agreements as they followed Alara's lead. Yugi and Solomon saw their guests to the door and said their goodbyes.

He shut and locked the door before turning to Yugi and saying, "I know the Pharaoh probably wants to meet with Alara and ask her questions. I can tell you she has no more answers than what you already know. Also we don't want to shock her too much with what she has been through recently."

"What do you mean shock her grandpa?" Yugi asked.

"Well, she doesn't know that there is a 5000 year old spirit of a Pharaoh living in the Millennium Puzzle. Especially since it is the Nameless Pharaoh himself; I have a feeling she will be quite surprised when she finds out."

"So when will she find out?"

"I'm not sure, but I have a feeling soon. If she is still as inquisitive and curious as she was when she was a child she will want to examine the Millennium Puzzle." Yugi looked away thoughtfully. "I know you might be thinking if you can trust her, and I'll tell you. You can trust her like you trust me." Yugi looked back to his grandfather with smile.

"I swear grandpa sometimes I think you can read my mind," he said with a laugh.

Bright golden yellow eyes watched as a group of teens headed off in different directions. She assumed they were going back to their own homes. She was only interested in keeping her eye on one of them as she followed one of the girls keeping to the shadows.

_'Did she use the card in her duel with the boy?'_ asked a deep voice in her head.

_'No, but I have a feeling she shall use it in her next duel,'_ she replied.

_'You're sure you saw her open the envelope with the card?'_

_'Yes, I sat and watched her through the balcony window.'_

_'If the stories play true and his vision is right once she meets and makes contact with the Pharaoh the visions of the past should start to show themselves to her. We must be there to guide her down the correct path, and make sure history doesn't repeat itself like it has for the last 5000 years; with her death.'_


	5. Chapter 5: Weekend Plans

I wanted to say a big thanks to sweetcookies82 for the favorite and the follow!

Also I was thinking about doing a double post so we get closer to our first major event, but I would like to hear your opinions! As always reviews are welcomed and appreciated. :D

Now since poor Yami hasn't had a lot to say lately I'll let him do the disclaimer.

Yami: Feriua does not own any Yu-Gi-Oh characters. All rights belong to their rightful owners. Feriua does own her original characters and plot.

~Chapter 5: Weekend Plans~

~The Next Day At Lunch~

Alara joined the boys at the lunch table who were already eating. As she sat down next to Yugi she asked, "So are we going to make any plans for this weekend?"

"I don't know of anything huge that's going on this weekend," Tristan said around a mouthful of food.

"We could always go to the arcade or maybe the movies," Yugi stated.

"Hmm we could do both or either one," Alara said tilting her head thoughtfully.

"No, I have the perfect idea!" Tea yelled as she sat down.

"I don't think you have to yell Tea, but what is this perfect idea," Joey said as he rolled his eyes.

"It's the brand new water park that is opening on Saturday; the Kaibaland Water Park!" Tea said as she tossed a flyer on the table.

"Nice idea and all, but I have two reasons why that's a bad idea," Joey said with a smirk. "One: it's February and its cold outside. Two: that big shot probably wouldn't even give us tickets to get in."

"Well, that is why only half of the park is opening. There is an indoor and outdoor waterpark," Tea said as Yugi grabbed the flyer and started to look it over. "Also I planned on asking Mokuba for the tickets, because you know he would be more than happy to get us some."

"Well, this water park is probably really small and only has one slide in it," Joey replied with a huff.

"Actually Joey," Yugi started, "this water park is huge. If I read right before Kaiba based the designs on a water park in Germany. The Tropical Island's Resort was built inside of an old blimp hangar. It is temperature controlled to remain at 80 degrees Fahrenheit no matter the temperature outside. It says on the flyer that the indoor park has ten different kinds of water slides, two water coasters, a wave pool, a lazy river, and more."

"Oh man that sounds awesome!" Tristan said with excitement.

"Well, I think we decided on what we're doing," Yugi said. "Tea you're sure you can get us all tickets?"

"Yea, no problem," Tea replied with a wink. "You'll be joining us right Alara?"

"Of course, but I'll need to go shopping I don't have a bathing suit," Alara replied with a small blush.

"That's ok why don't we all go to the mall after school today," Tea said.

"Oh man just what I want to do is be stuck at the mall while two girls go shopping," Joey groaned.

"You don't have to follow us around you could always hit the arcade," Alara stated the obvious with a roll of her eyes.

"Oh yea that makes sense."

"Joey, didn't you say your sister was coming to visit this weekend?" Yugi asked.

"Yea"

"Why don't you call her up after school and see if she would like to join us at the water park."

"That's not a bad idea."

"Yes, Serenity in a bikini," Tristan said as he stared off imagining her.

"Tristan your perv," Joey said he smacked him upside the head. Tristan recovered quickly and pulled back to punch Joey.

"Enough boys!" Alara yelled loudly with authority. The boys shrank back and looked at her in shock. The bell rang overhead and the boys turned and looked at each other with determination.

"We'll finish this after school Wheeler," Tristan said.

"You're on Taylor!" Joey replied. Tea, Alara, and Yugi sighed and left the two boys still glaring at each other.

~Later After School In Front of the Mall~

"Ok Serenity I'll see you after school on Friday," Joey said and hung up his phone and put it back in his pocket. "She said she would love to join us at the water park."

"Alright, I'm going to call Mokuba really quick," Tea said as she pulled her cell out and walked a few steps away. Alara went and sat down on the edge of the outdoor fountain in front of the mall. She looked up at the bright blue sky and watched the clouds slowly move by.

"What are you thinking about?" Yugi asked as he sat down next to her.

"Nothing much just enjoying the nice day with some great friends," Alara said as she looked at him and smiled. A sudden gust of wind blew through sending a chill down Alara's spine, and causing her to shiver.

"Are you cold? Would you like my jacket?" Yugi offered.

"No thank you its ok the wind just caught me off guard," Alara replied. She turned to her left as she heard a noise coming from the bushes just a few feet away. She watched as a black cat with a golden collar walked out of the bushes. It sat down and continued to stare at her.

"Do you recognize that cat?" Yugi asked when he noticed her staring at it.

"Yea actually," she started as she pulled out her phone and brought up the picture she took. "I saw this same cat outside my apartment two nights ago." She showed the phone to Yugi.

He looked back up and said, "Um the cat is gone."

"What the hell!" Alara said looking, and saw the cat was definitely gone. "I swear that's a little weird." Yugi nodded in agreement.

"Yep so that is six in total and I'll pick them up tomorrow after school. Thanks Mokuba!" Tea said as she walked up to Yugi and Alara. "Alright the tickets have been taken care of. Let's go shopping!" Tea grabbed Alara's hand and pulled her towards the mall entrance.

"We'll meet you guys in two hours in the food court," Tea yelled back to Yugi as Joey and Tristan walked up next to him.

"Ok I think I finally decided," Alara said as she walked out of the changing room with various tops and bottoms to bikinis.

"Which one?" Tea asked from where she was sitting.

"This one," Alara said she held up a top and bottom after she set the rest down. The top was all black lined in a golden yellow with a small gold ring in the middle. The bottoms were the same, black lined with golden yellow, and on both sides at the hips the bottoms tied together. "I'm also going to get this to wear over it." She picked up a strapless baby blue dress that fell mid-thigh on her.

"Oh super cute; that will definitely look good on you," Tea said with a smile. "Let's get checked out I know the boys are probably dying of boredom waiting."

Joey looked at his phone and then dropped his head on the table. "How much longer are they going to take?"

"Chill man we just got here and it has been exactly two hours like they said," Tristan said as he sat down next to him.

"Here they come now," Yugi said as he pointed behind them. Alara and Tea walked up to the boys each carrying one bag.

"About time," Joey said with a pout.

"Shut it Joey we're not running late," Alara snapped.

"You know I thought about something we didn't consider earlier," Yugi said quickly before an argument could start.

"What's that?" Tea asked as she sat down across from Tristan.

"The water park is on the outside of town, and we have no way to get there. It's too far to walk, and no buses travel that far yet."

"I think I can take care of that issue," Alara stated.

"How's that?" Yugi questioned.

"I can drive us; I do have my license and a car."

"You have a car?" Joey asked.

"Yes, a 2002 Honda Civic," Alara replied slowly.

"Wait with Serenity going you can't fit us all in the car," Tristan said.

"No, but I can even though it's not completely legal. All we have to do is squeeze the last person in the back seat," Alara smirked.

"That is quite devious thinking of you Alara," Tristan chuckled. "I like it."

"A girl has to live a little on the wild side doesn't she?" Alara replied with a smile. A thought occurred to Yugi, he didn't want to be stuck in the backseat being crushed.

"I call shotgun!" Yugi yelled suddenly.

"Well that didn't take too long," Alara laughed.

"Oh man he beat me to it," Joey said.

"I think it would be best if it was Tristan, Joey, Tea, and then Serenity. By what I can tell I want as much distance between Tristan and Serenity," Alara said with a shake of her head.

"Now that's something I can agree to!" Joey said.

"Hey now don't I get an opinion?" Tristan asked.

"No!" everyone said with a laugh.

Thursday flew by with nothing exciting happening. It was the almost the end of lunch on Friday and the group was finalizing their plans for the next day.

"Alright the park opens at noon and it's about a half an hour drive there. So why don't everyone meet at Yugi's around 11 o'clock and I'll pick everyone up around 11:15," Alara said.

"Sounds like a plan," Tristan said as the bell rang. The group split up as they headed to their next classes except for Alara and Yugi as they walked to their next class together. They walked into the class, and sat down in their seats as the bell rang.

The teacher walked in, sat his papers down, and said, "Alright class we're just about done with this chapter. So today we are going to work on some review problems I've made up and then on Monday we'll take a test. Feel free to work amongst yourselves and if you have any questions come and ask me." The class answered with loud groan as the teacher started to pass the review worksheets out. Yugi looked at the paper and shrunk down in defeat.

_'I still can't get these problems figured out, and I don't want to fail this test,'_ he thought to himself.

_'I told you before to ask Alara for help,'_ Yami sighed. _'I think she would be more than happy to tutor you, and maybe show you some tricks to figure out the problems.'_

_'You're right,'_ Yugi sighed in defeat once again. He stood up and moved toward the back where Alara was sitting. He sat down in the empty desk in front of her. She was sitting there rubbing her temples with her eyes closed.

"Uh Alara are you ok?" Yugi asked slowly.

Alara opened her eyes and said, "Yea just a small headache starting nothing major." Although she was actually trying to push it to the back of her mind she saw that haziness behind Yugi again. "What's up?"

"Well I wanted to ask if you could tutor me before this test on Monday?" Yugi asked with a slight blush as he looked down. "I just can't seem to figure out these problems for anything. I know you already most of this so…"

"Yea sure no problem," Alara said with a smile. "Here start on the first problem and let me see you work through it so I can try and see where you are messing up." Yugi pulled a pencil from his pocket and got to work. He worked through the problem and came up with an answer he thought was correct. Alara looked at it and then did the same problem on her paper really quick. She put her paper next to his to show the difference in answers.

"Oh man!" Yugi said started to get frustrated already.

"It's not that bad Yugi. You were actually pretty close. My first suggestion is your mental math is off quite a bit. I would try to write out everything so you can keep track of your numbers and won't mess them up," Alara said as she pulled out a blank piece of paper. She wrote the same problem at the top and slid it over to Yugi. "Here try it again, but write out every step you do." Yugi nodded and did the problem over again. After he was finished he started to move the paper back over to Alara, but stopped deciding to double check his math. When he was satisfied he slid the paper to Alara. She looked it over and compared it to hers.

With a nod and a smile she said, "Good job you got it exactly right!" With new confidence Yugi and Alara continued working through the worksheet together until it was almost the end of class.

"Alright I have another practice worksheet for you guys to take home and practice over the weekend for the test. Make sure you grab one on your way out," the teacher said as the bell rang.

As Alara and Yugi were packing up their things Alara had a great idea. "Yugi why don't you come over to my apartment on Sunday and we can have a small study session to make sure you're ready for the test."

"Yea sure that would be great! What time would you like me to come over?"

"What about one o'clock, and I can make us some lunch as well," Alara said thoughtfully. "Saturday I'll tell you how to get to my house so you won't forget."

"Perfect!" Yugi said as he threw his backpack over his shoulder. They walked out of the class together and headed towards the front of the school. A thought occurred to Yugi and he wondered if he should ask.

_'Go ahead the fact she has seen the same cat multiple times has got me curious as well,' _Yami said answering his question.

"Alara I'm curious have you seen that cat again since Wednesday at the mall?" Yugi asked as he looked toward the girl that was basically his height.

"Ironically no," she replied. "But it still gets me that the collar around its neck has the Eye of Wdjat on it. Just like on the Millennium Puzzle."

"Maybe the person who owns the cat is Egyptian."

"Maybe, but the collar looks like it is made of solid gold. I wouldn't let my cat run around with something like that around its neck."

"What cat?" Tea asked as they met up with the rest of the group at the front gate.

Alara pulled out her phone and pulled up the picture and said, "This cat that I've seen multiple times since Monday night."

"Hmm that looks like a Bombay," Tea said after a few seconds.

"A Bombay?" Yugi questioned.

"Yes it's said they are very intelligent and athletic cat breed."

"How do you know this?" Joey asked bored with the conversation.

"Just looking up random stuff during my study hall," Tea replied sarcastically.

"Joey don't you have to meet your sister?" Alara sighed.

"Oh shit!" Joey yelled as he took off down the street.

"Hey man, wait for me!" Tristan yelled as he took off after him.

"No way, go home!" Joey yelled back. The rest of the group watched and just shook their heads.

"Well, I'll meet everyone at Yugi's house at 11:15," Alara said turning towards Tea and Yugi. "You have the tickets Tea?"

"Yes they're sitting on my desk," she replied. Everyone said their goodbyes and headed towards their homes. Yami appeared next to Yugi and continued to walk with him.

"So what do you make of this cat?" Yami asked after a couple of minutes.

"I don't know maybe it's just a cat that has an interest in her," Yugi replied looking over at the spirit. "You don't think so."

"No the fact she has seen it twice and the fact it has a collar that looks to be an Egyptian artifact really bothers me."

"Did you feel any kind of magic from it when we saw it on Wednesday?"

The spirit shook his head and replied, "It was gone too quickly. With the way weird things like to happen around us at times I don't know if something might happen to her. If there is I want to find out about it." Yugi nodded in agreement as he headed into the front door of the game shop.


	6. Chapter 6: Waterpark

BrightLightsBiggerCity: Thank you so much for the review. I did have a little giggle myself, because when I originally wrote that part that's what it said. I didn't think anyone else might catch onto it!

Alright so here is the next chapter I decided to post early. I promise the next chapter and the one after starts to really pick it up! As always I love the reviews, but I'm not the kind of person to beg for them. They just help to make my day better when I get to read them. ^-^

I do not own any Yu-Gi-Oh characters. All rights belong to their rightful owners. I do own my original characters and plot.

~Chapter 6: Waterpark~

Nanu sat on top of the couch watching Alara running around the apartment getting everything ready to go. Alara stopped in the middle of the room and went through her bag to make sure she had everything.

"Bathing suit, flip flops, cover up dress, driver's license, credit card, keys, hair tie to pull my hair up, brush, towel, and cellphone in plastic bag so it doesn't get wet," she noted out loud. She looked at her Ipod dock and saw it was eleven o'clock.

_'Alright time to go pick them up,'_ she thought as she headed out the door locking it behind her. She walked to the garages next to the apartment building and opened up garage two. She grabbed what she needed out of the bag and then put it in the trunk. Then she got in her car and headed to Yugi's.

Alara pulled up outside Yugi's house right at 11:15. She got out and opened the trunk.

"Who's ready to have some fun at the pool?" she asked the group of teens. Everyone yelled in agreement. "Alright all the bags go in the trunk, and then everybody pile in." As everyone was getting situated Solomon came out to wish them a happy and safe trip.

"Alara make sure you're careful," he yelled.

"You can trust me," she said with a wink as she got in the driver's seat. Solomon waved and gave a small chuckle as they headed towards the highway. After about twenty minutes into the drive Joey finally broke the silence.

"Are we there yet," he whined.

"Joey, I swear to everything that's under the sun don't start with that crap. I will stop this car and leave you on the side of the highway," Alara snapped as she looked at him through the rearview mirror, and everyone laughed.

"Just be patient I bet we're almost there," Serenity said.

"Yes we are I can see it over there," Yugi said pointing out the window. Everyone stared in awe as they watched the building growing bigger the closer they got. In no time they arrived, gathered their stuff, and headed towards the entrance. Tea pulled the tickets out of her bag and handed one to everybody.

"Welcome to the grand opening of the indoor Kaibaland Waterpark," came a voice from the front of the small crowd.

"That sounded like Mokuba," Yugi said. The group made their way to the front of the crowd.

"Yea, and there is rich boy," Joey said with disgust.

"This is a special grand opening for a hundred guests before the full public opening on Monday," Mokuba started again. "So if you're here I hope you enjoy this brand new park." The doors opened and the crowd began to move in. The group walked up to Kaiba and Mokuba greeting them.

"I hope you guys enjoy the water park. Here I also go you some locker keys for your stuff if you want to use them," Mokuba said as he handed Yugi the keys.

"Thank you Mokuba," Alara said.

"You must be Alara it's nice to meet you," he said happily.

"Just great another person to join the geek squad," Kaiba grumbled.

"We didn't ask for your smart ass comment rich boy," Joey jumped in.

"And I didn't ask for yours mutt," Kabia snapped.

"Both of you stop with the rude ass comments! Must I always play referee," Alara said stepping between them. "I know how you act Seto Kaiba. Maybe for once you should get your head out of your ass and think of someone else besides yourself." The tall CEO stared down Alara not even blinking; as she matched his gaze right back.

"Ok before this escalates anymore let's head inside," Yugi said as he pushed Alara toward the door. Everyone else followed as Tristan had to pull Joey along.

"Man Alara I didn't know you could have such an attitude," Tea said after they walked in the door.

"A girl has to be able to defend herself and not get pushed around. I'm not going to back down from a challenge; even from him," she replied with confidence. Everyone looked around in awe of the beautiful sight around them. The park was decorated to look like they were in a tropical jungle. There were trees and flowers planted everywhere. In the distance you could see a beautiful waterfall. Not to mention the large amounts of colorful tubing marking all the different water slides.

"All right why don't we get changed and then meet by those chairs to the left of the wave pool," Serenity suggested as she pointed to the area she described. Everyone nodded in agreement and then the boys and girls split off.

The boys got there first stacking their bags together on one of the chair by some trees. Joey was wearing blue and white Hawaiian print trunks, Tristan had on green camouflage, and Yugi had on plain black. The girls walked up a few minutes later. Serenity had a plain pink bikini with a matching sarong, Tea had a red and white polka dot bikini with a red sarong, and then Alara had her black bikini with the gold trim and the blue strapless dress over it.

"Ok what do we want to hit first?" Alara asked.

"My vote is for the water coasters!" Yugi said excitedly. Everybody was nodding and mumbling agreements. The boys started walking ahead. Tea and Serenity took off their sarongs and caught up with the boys.

"Hold up!" Alara yelled as she slid her dress over her head. Everyone stopped and looked back towards her. All at once all three guys' jaws dropped and their eyes grew wide.

"Damn she looks hot," Tristan said as the other two nodded.

"You guys disgust me," Tea scowled. "Why don't you shut your mouths before you start catching flies." The boys shut their mouths really quick as a blush formed across each of their face. Yugi noticed the Pharaoh was standing to him. Yugi was a little shocked to see his facial reaction to Alara as well. His eyes were opened wide and his mouth was opened just a little.

_'YAMI!'_ Yugi mentally yelled at the spirit. He jumped and looked at him surprised.

_'WHAT?'_ he yelled back_. 'You were just doing the same thing!'_

_'I have never seen you act that way before,'_ Yugi stated the obvious as a deep blush crossed the spirit's face.

_'Well….I…'_ Yami tried to start.

_'Oohh Yami do we have crush,'_ Yugi said with a sly smile.

_'What I have no idea what you're talking about,'_ Yami replied quickly as he returned to the puzzle trying to end the conversation.

_'We'll finish this conversation later,' _Yugi said with a chuckle.

"Alright let's go," Alara said as she ran past them. "What are you waiting for?" Everyone took off after her as they headed towards the water coasters. As the group took off a woman stepped out from behind a tree where she had been watching the group. She walked over to the right side of the wave pool and sat down in a lounge chair.

_'Are you going to follow them?'_ a deep voice said in her head.

_'No, I have no need to,'_ she replied as she brushed her long curly dark lavender hair behind her shoulder.

_'Why not?'_ the voice grumbled.

_'They did leave their stuff so they will eventually come back. Besides I wouldn't mind taking a few minutes to relax for once. I highly doubt anything exciting is really going to happen here.' _A low growl was all she got in response. She rolled her eyes and leaned back in the chair, and relaxed for the first time in what seemed like years.

The group of friends got to the first water coaster and made their way straight to the loading area since there was no line. There was a worker waiting to help them load onto the boats. They all looked at the boats and noticed that only two riders seated at a time.

"Well I know I'm going to partner up with Serenity," Tristan said first with a smile.

"Like hell you are Tristan," Joey shot back quickly. "She'll be riding with me." Serenity just shook her head as the two boys glared at each other.

"How about I ride with my brother this time and then I can ride with you next time Tristan," she said trying to dissolve the argument.

"Fine," they both said. Tea looked to over to Yugi with a slight blush. She opened her mouth to ask him if he would like to ride with her, but she stopped short when he turned to Alara.

"Alara would you like to ride with me?" he asked.

"Sure," she replied with a smile. A small scowl crossed Tea's face as she became a little jealous.

"I guess you're riding with me then," Tristan said coming up next to her.

"Yes I am," she sighed in defeat. Joey and Serenity loaded in the first boat, then Tristan and Tea, and finally Yugi and Alara. In each group the guys were sitting behind the girls.

"Alright everyone make sure to keep your arms and legs inside the boat at all time," the worker started. "Keep a tight grip on the handles next you and I hope you enjoy your ride." The first boat started to move down the conveyor belt, and when they disappeared over the top the second moved up next.

"So Alara have you ridden anything like this?" Yugi asked as their boat started to move. He could feel his nerves a little on edge, but acted like they weren't bothering him.

She shook her head and replied, "Nope this is my first time. It's a little nerve racking, but I think I'll be fine after we get over this first hill." Yugi nodded as a he grew a little more nervous as they come up to the top of the hill. He looked down during the split second pause to see the water jets that would propel them down what looked to be about a four story drop.

"HERE WE GO!" Alara yelled as they headed down the hill. Yugi let out a yell joining Alara. They moved quickly through the tunnels. They went inside an enclosed tunnel for a few seconds before coming back out into the light. They continued making their way through the twist and turns, and going back up and down each hill. Before they knew it they were at the end of the ride and laughing at the huge thrill and fun they just had. They got out of the boat and joined their friends that were waiting for them.

"Oh man that was awesome," Joey said with a grin. "Let's go to the next one." He headed off toward the second water coaster and everyone followed close behind. On the next one Serenity and Tristan rode together, then Joey and Alara, and finally Yugi and Tea. Then they made their way through the different water slides. On most of them they were able to sit together in one boat since they could easily sit six people.

"Hey Joey are you up for a little race?" Alara asked as they got off the water slide they just rode.

"What are you talking about?" he asked as his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"The next water slide over is racing one. You lie down on mats and race to the bottom. Do you think you could beat me in this race compare to the last one we had," Alara smirked.

"Oh you're on!" he said as he headed towards the water slide.

"What happened with the last race?" Serenity asked.

"Let's just say your brother got his butt beat by girl," Tea said.

"Twice," Tristan added.

"Yea he got beat once in a race, and another time at a duel," Tea continued

"By who? Alara?" Serenity asked.

"Yea it was pretty funny to watch both times." They caught up with Joey who was waiting at the top of the slide ready to go. When the worker yelled go all six of them pushed off as hard as they could into the tunnels. When Joey reached the bottom he jumped up to see where Alara was. She had stopped about a foot behind him.

"Ha I beat you this time!" Joey yelled triumphantly.

"True, but you didn't win first place either," Alara said with a grin as she pointed behind him. He turned around to see Yugi standing there with a huge grin on his face. Yugi had gotten first, then Joey, Alara, Tea, Serenity, and Tristan. Yugi's smile faded as his stomach growled loud and long.

"Well I think that's a sign to get something to eat," Tea laughed. The group went to the snack bar, where the food was free for the day, and ate their fill. They decide to relax for a little bit and went to the wave pool. Alara sat down in the water where it stopped at her waist. Yugi sat down next her while everyone else went a little further in. They started to bounce a medium sized beach ball back and forth to each other.

"Today has been a really nice and relaxing for once," Alara whispered after a few minutes.

Yugi looked at her and asked, "Why's that?"

"Mainly the stress that I've been dealing with for the last month; this has given me the chance to take a breath and enjoy myself. I loved being in Egypt and all, but I never was able to do something like this. Just take a day with some amazing friends and just have fun, and not really having to worry about anything."

"That true," Yugi replied. "Alara I'm just wondering if anything is bothering you?"

"No, not really I've just had a lot on my plate you wouldn't really expect a normal seventeen year old would deal with."

"I know what you mean," Yugi replied as thoughts of his previous battles ran through his mind. "You know that if anything is bothering you, you can come and talk to me about anything. I'll always be willing to listen to anything and help you work it out. I think I speak the same for my grandpa as well since he already knows you so well."

"Thank you Yugi that's really sweet," Alara said with a smile as she put her hand on his. A thought crossed Yugi's mind, but it was only there for a second before he pushed it away with blush that crossed his face. He looked back to his friends playing with the beach ball hoping Alara didn't see it. After a couple of minutes Alara moved her hand and placed it on her leg.

As Alara continued to sit there she started to feel uneasy, like someone was watching her. She looked around to the few people in the pool, but no one was looking her way. She looked to her right, past Yugi, but only saw a woman with purple hair that seemed to be sleeping. She looked to her left where everyone's belongings were still sitting on the lounge chair. Behind the chair and just a little to the left was tree and standing beneath it was a shadow of a person. It looked like it was leaning against the tree.

There weren't many features to the figure except what looked to be really spikey hair. She kept staring at it waiting to see if it would move. Finally she watched it lift its head and open its eyes. There was no true definition to the eyes except they were just completely yellow and seemed to glow ever so slightly.

"What or who are you?" Alara whispered. Yugi heard her say something and he turned to see her looking off towards where their belongings were at. He looked around her to see what she was staring at. If he was right he became instantly curious in how she could see Yami standing under the tree, because no one could ever see Yami as a spirit except for him.

_'Is she looking right at you?'_ Yugi asked through their mental connection.

_'I believe so considering our eyes are locked,'_ Yami replied.

"Alara," Yugi said just a little louder than a whisper hoping to get her attention. She didn't move just continued to stare.

"ALARA WATCH OUT!" Yugi heard Joey yell. That didn't even break her concentration until the beach ball came down and hit her in the head.

"JOEY!" Alara yelled as she brought her full attention to him.

"Uh oh," Joey said as he took off running to his best abilities in the water. Alara started chasing after him immediately to get her revenge.

"I didn't do it I swear!" Joey yelled back. "It was Tristan he punched it too hard and sent it flying towards you." Alara stopped and turned her glare onto Tristan. Tristan eyes grew wide as he turned around and began running from Alara. Yugi sat there laughing at the scene in front of him. He took a quick second to look back and saw that Yami had disappeared from under the tree. He looked back to see that Alara had somehow caught Tristan and was now pushing his head under the water. After a few seconds she released him with a smirk on her face satisfied she had gotten her revenge.

"Well that has made me thirsty so I am going to run to the snack bar, and grab something to drink. Would anybody like anything?" Alara stated as she headed towards the side of the pool.

"I saw they had milkshakes earlier could you get me one?" Serenity asked. Everyone agreed with Serenity's suggestion and said what flavor they would like.

"Ok so let me make sure Joey and Tristan want chocolate, Tea wants vanilla, Serenity and Yugi wants strawberry," Alara repeated and everybody nodded. "Ok I'll be right back then." Alara climbed out of the pool and started to walk towards the snack bar.

Yugi started following her and said, "Wait up you might need help carrying all of the drinks." Tea watched Yugi run after Alara as a same scowl crossed her face.

"Tea are you okay?" Serenity asked.

"Uh yea why do you ask?"

"Well I'm sorry if I'm wrong, but you seem jealous that Yugi seems to follow Alara around."

Tea looked down with a blush. "I don't mean to be, but I have a small crush on Yugi. I guess if he likes her and he is happy that is ok, but I wouldn't mind having my chance with him if it ever came around. I don't think he likes me though, he just sees me as a friend."

"Why do you think that?"

"The way he acts around her. He never acts that way around me. I've seen him blush more times in this past week than I've known him."

"You never know he may like you as well. Think about it you two have grown up together since you were young. Alara's is a new person and most guys act like that around new girls. I know I saw my brother and Tristan act the same way," Serenity said with a smile as she put her hand on Tea's shoulder. "Give it some time you never know he may come around."

"Thank you," Tea replied as smile crossed her face.

Few minutes later Alara and Yugi started making their way back to the wave pool. Yugi had insisted that he carry the two drink carriers. Alara even tried to take one away when he wasn't paying attention, but failed when he noticed. As they were walking back Alara gazed around at all the flowers that had been planted. She stopped when she saw her favorite flower. She walked over, picked one, and tucked it behind her ear. Yugi watched her and was curious as to what she was doing.

She walked back towards him and asked, "What do you think?"

"It's beautiful. What kind of flower is it?"

"It's my favorite flower a blue Lily," Alara replied as she turned and started to head back to their friends. Before she even took two steps she ran right into someone.

"Oh my gosh I'm so sorry! I wasn't paying attention at all," Alara apologized quickly as she looked at the woman she saw earlier with the purple hair.

"Oh no it's my fault I wasn't looking at all. I was too distracted by the beautiful flowers," the woman replied with a laugh. Alara started to agree with her, but stopped when the light reflected off of the woman's necklace temporarily blinding her. When she opened her eyes she glanced back at the necklace, and was shocked at what see saw. The necklace looked exactly like the collar on the cat she had been seeing around.

"That necklace is very pretty," Alara commented. "I've seen another just like it, but as a collar on a cat."

"Oh uh thank you," the woman replied nervously. "That's weird though because mine is a family heirloom. Well it was nice talking to you." The woman starting walking backwards, and then tripped over a lounge chair almost falling down.

"Well that was weird," Yugi commented as they continued on their way back.

"Yes it was, and I think there might be some connection between her and that cat."

"Because of the necklace?"

"That and how nervous she was acting when I mentioned the resemblance." Yugi nodded as everything played through his head again, and took notice of how the woman had acted. Both of them pushed the thought to the back of their mind until later as they returned and handed everyone their milkshake.

"While you guys were gone we were thinking about pool games we could play before we went and rode the water slides again," Serenity said.

"Of course Joey and Tristan picked one that appeased to their competitions against each other all the time," Tea said with a roll of her eyes.

"What's that?" Yugi asked.

"We can play chicken!" Joey said with excitement.

"What's chicken?" Alara asked. Everyone turned and looked at her with blank stares. "What I don't know what it is and I never really had pool time in Egypt!"

"Well there are four people that play at a time. Two people sit on the shoulders of their partner, and they wrestle trying to knock their opponent off of their partner's shoulder," Tea explained.

"Um ok," Alara replied slightly confused.

"Why don't we have the first fight," Joey said. "Then the winner can wrestle against Alara."

"Serenity is my partner," Tristan said quickly.

"Tristan…," Joey growled.

"Joey it's fine why don't you and Tea partner up," Serenity said, and with a sigh Joey agreed. The boys kneeled down so the girls could climb onto their shoulders. When they were set they wrapped their arms around the girl's legs, and stood back up. The girls locked hands, staring each other down, and waited.

"Ready…Set," Yugi started as the two boys braced themselves the best they could in the water. "GO!" The girls pushed back against each other leaning from side to side trying to throw each other off. The struggle lasted for a couple of minutes and seemed to be evenly matched. Suddenly Tristan's foot slipped and Serenity lost her grip with Tea. Tea took the opportunity and grabbed Serenity's shoulder pushing her off Tristan in to the water. Tristan fell over too as he fully lost his balance.

"Oh yea we won," Tea and Joey cheered as Tristan helped Serenity up.

"So do you want to try?" Yugi asked Alara.

"Oh yea I do," Alara replied. "Whose shoulders am I going to sit on?"

"I want to join in so you can sit on mine," Yugi replied.

"Are you sure man?" Joey asked.

"Hey now I'm not as short as I used to be, and I have been working out a little," Yugi replied with a scowl.

"How tall are you Alara?" Tristan asked.

"5' 3"," she answered.

"See we're basically the same height. I'm just a little taller than 5'3" almost 5'4"." Yugi want to show his friends he was strong since it always seemed like he was the weak one between him, Joey, and Tristan. Yugi kneeled down while Tristan helped give Alara support as she climbed on Yugi's shoulders. He wrapped his arms around her legs as he stood up and tried to get his balance. He rocked back and forth before him and Alara fell over as he lost his balance.

"Are you guys alright?" Serenity asked as she went to help them up. Yugi and Alara looked at each other as they started laughing and answered yes.

"Are you sure you got this Yugi?" Tristan asked.

"Yea I just lost my balance," he replied as he stood back up. "Let's try this again."

He kneeled again as he heard Yami ask, _'Would you like me take over this time and help?'_

_'Can we even switch places since I have the puzzle in the bottom of my bag,' _Yugi replied.

_'It doesn't hurt to try.'_ Yugi closed his eyes as he started to stand up again. He felt the familiar pull as him and Yami switched places. Yami opened his eyes to see Joey with Tea on his shoulders, in front of him. Yami dropped his head slightly so his golden yellow bang covered his eyes, and giving the illusion Yugi was still in control. He was able to keep his balance with no issue.

_'Show off,'_ Yugi said in his head. Yami didn't say anything just smirked. The girls locked hands and waited for the go.

"Ready…Set…...GO!" Tristan yelled. Alara pushed hard against Tea. She watched closely for any signs of weakness. Both stayed strong and didn't falter for a few minutes. Yami decided to give her an advantage, and took a step forward. The step helped Alara push Tea back slightly causing Joey to step trying to regain his balance. Alara took the advantage of Joey being on one foot by placing her hand on Tea's shoulder. With a hard push Tea and Joey toppled over into the water.

"YES!" Alara yelled throwing her arms into the air. With a smile Yami followed Alara by raising one fist into the air. Then he released his control sending Yugi back into his body. Yugi blinked his eyes in surprise to be back in his body suddenly. He swayed back and forth before falling over once again. Alara and Yugi looked at each other again and started laughing.

"Alright I think it's time for some true laziness and relaxation," Tristan said as everyone looked at him. "Time for the lazy river!" The group went to the lazy river, and then for the next couple of hours rode the water slides again. About an hour before the park closed everyone went to the locker rooms to wash off and get changed.

Even though it was a short ride back everyone fell asleep in the car. Yugi woke up when they reached his house looking to the back seat to see everyone still asleep.

"Alara, would you mind driving everyone to their house so they don't have to walk?" Yugi asked.

"No problem, just tell me where to go," she replied with a tired smile. First they dropped off Tristan, then Joey and Serenity, and lastly Tea. When Alara pulled back up to Yugi's house his grandfather was waiting outside.

"Did you guys enjoy yourselves?" Solomon asked as they both climbed out of Alara's car.

"We sure did Grandpa," Yugi said with a yawn.

"It's the most fun I've had in a while for sure," Alara said as she yawned and fought to keep her eyes open.

"Alara you look exhausted," Solomon said.

"Yea it was fun trying to keep Joey from knocking Tristan out a couple of times since he kept trying to hit on Serenity all the time."

"You look like you're going to fall asleep on your feet. I don't like the idea of you driving home."

"I don't live that far it won't be an issue," Alara said trying to wave it off.

"No, I won't have it. I feel obligated to watch over you and I think you should stay over tonight. Then in the morning when you are rested you can go home."

"But…"

"No buts missy," Solomon said sternly. "We have a spare bedroom so there is plenty of room." Alara blinked in surprise as she had never seen him being so stern.

"Well I don't have anything to sleep in," she said crossing her arms.

"Hhmm you and Yugi are pretty close in size. I think he may have a pair of basketball shorts and a large t-shirt you can borrow," Solomon said looking between her and his grandson.

"Fine," Alara yawned.

"Give me your keys I'll move the car to behind the shop. While I do that Yugi can get you settled." Alara handed her keys to the old man as she followed Yugi inside and upstairs. Alara leaned against Yugi's door waiting as he dug around for something she could wear.

"I've never seen him really act like that," Alara commented.

"Well I can see his point. You're exhausted and shouldn't be driving. Also like he said the other night he sees you as the granddaughter he never had. So he wants to watch over you and is concerned for your safety like with me," Yugi said as he stepped away from his closet with a plain grey t-shirt. He grabbed the shorts that were sitting on his bed, and then walked up to Alara. He held them out in front of him, one at a time, comparing to make sure they would fit her. He handed them to her satisfied, and walked out of his room as Alara followed behind.

He headed down the hall to the room right next to his and said, "Here's the spare room." He rounded the corner ahead of him and pointed at the first door on the left. "That's the bathroom."

"Thank you," she said as she headed toward the bathroom.

"If you need anything don't hesitate to come and knock on my door," he said before turning around to go to his room. Alara changed into the clothes surprised Yugi's grandfather was right that the clothes fit her pretty well. She headed toward the spare room, and glanced at Yugi's door noticing the light was already turned off. She shut the door behind her and laid down on the bed. It only took a few seconds before darkness overtook her vision and she was fast asleep.

_'That was too close earlier,'_ the voice growled in her head.

_'It's alright nothing happened,'_ she replied lying down on the window sill.

_'She recognized your pendant which almost exposed you too soon.'_

_'Like I said nothing happened. Plus we will have to start exposing ourselves a little more, because I have feeling it will happen tomorrow,'_ she sighed watching over a young girl fast asleep.


	7. Chapter 7: Face to Face

bedtime2000: Thanks for the follow!

I'm so excited to post this chapter! We are now starting to pick it up, and major events are getting ready to start appearing! Please as always I love the reviews they could seriously be about anything at all! I hope you enjoy this and let's get on with the show! ^-^

Yugi: Feriua can I do the disclaimer this time?

Of course!

Yugi: Feriua does not own any Yu-Gi-Oh characters. All rights belong to their rightful owners. Feriua does own her original characters and plot.

~Chapter 7: Face to Face~

The shadow walked over to the sleeping girl and stopped next to the bed. It stood there concentrating on the girl. A sound from the room next door caught its attention momentarily as it turned and looked at the wall. When it heard nothing more the shadow turned around stopping and looking at the window to see a sleeping cat. It then looked at the clock in the room as it read 4:56 am.

It turned back to the sleeping girl and spoke out loud knowing it couldn't hear him. "Who are you? No matter how much I think about it I can't figure out why you look so familiar. I feel a pull to you like a long lost friend or something else. It seems like you can see me when no others can. Do you have a hidden power or purpose?"

The girl mumbled in her sleep as she turned over facing the wall. The shadow sat down next to the bed and continued to watch the girl. "I have worked it out that you don't seem to have any darkness that follows you. I would have noticed and wouldn't feel so comfortable around you like I am now. It feels like the energy that follows you is more pure."

The girl became restless once again turning over to face where the shadow was sitting. "Mom…dad…" she mumbled as a strand of hair fell across her face. A thought crossed the shadow's mind. He reached up to the strand of hair that fell and pushed the hair behind her ear. As he brought his hand back down he grazed it across her cheek. Flashes of white crossed his vision and faded away when he pulled his hand back.

"That was odd to have such energy cross between us. Even more that I was able to touch you even though my hand should have passed through like nothing." The shadow watched in amazement as a slight yellow glow appeared around the sleeping figure. The girl started to fidget more in her sleep as the glow disappeared. She jumped awake and looked at the clock in front of her that read 5 am.

"It's too early," she moaned to herself. "That was weird though I kept hearing a voice in my sleep. It was like something was talking to me. Whatever it was, it was probably just a dream." She looked to her right as she went to lie back down, but stopped short. Sitting next to her bed was the same shadow of a person she had seen earlier with the glowing yellow eyes. Her eyes grew wide before she let out a loud scream.

A loud scream pierced through Yugi's sleep jolting him awake. He fell out of his bed with a loud thump. He scrambled to his feet, and ran towards the door. He tried to open it, but missed the handle completely causing him to run straight into the door and fall back on his butt.

"Ow damn it," he mumbled as got up and actually made it out the door on the next attempt. He ran to the spare bedroom's door and knocked gently.

"Alara, are you ok?"

"Yea," came a muffled response. "You can open the door if you want."

"What's wrong," Yugi asked as he opened the door. He covered his eyes as they adjusted to the light that had been turned on.

"I'm sorry to wake you," she said quietly. "I woke up because I thought I kept hearing a voice that sounded like it was talking to me while I was asleep. When I woke up there was a shadow that was sitting on the floor that had glowing yellow eyes." Yugi looked around the room and saw that there was nothing there.

"Well looks like whatever it was is gone now," Yugi yawned as he felt a small amount of guilt wash over him. He walked over and sat down on the edge of the bed, and gave Alara a reassuring smile.

"Did I wake up your grandpa?" Yugi listened for a minute and heard the loud snoring from down the hall.

"No I'm not surprised though he could sleep through a tornado," Yugi chuckled. Alara smiled weakly as she yawned. "You should get back to sleep."

"Not to sound like a wimp or anything, but I'm a little on edge. Would you mind just sitting here until I fall back asleep?"

Yugi was a little surprised at the request, but nodded his head. He reached up and hit the light switch as Alara laid back down. She laid there and looked at the shadow of Yugi sitting next to the bed. It was odd that the shadow she had seen looked just like Yugi right now. She pushed the thought out of her mind as exhaustion took over once again as she fell asleep. It only took a few seconds before Yugi heard Alara's breathing deepen and even out. He stood up quietly to leave. He watched as a strand of her hair fell across her face. He reached down moving the strand back behind her ear. She let out a deep sigh as he headed toward the door and shut it behind him.

Yugi shut his door and went to sit down on his bed. He noticed the Pharaoh's spirit sitting in his normal corner at the end of the bed. The spirit looked up at the young boy with sad eyes.

"You and me are having a talk in the morning," Yugi whispered before lying back down and falling straight to sleep.

Alara woke up, stretched as she sat up, and looked at the clock seeing it was 9:15 am. She felt very well rested even though she had gotten the crap scared out of her earlier that morning. She got up and went to the bathroom. She ran her fingers through her hair so it wouldn't be sticking up all over the place. As she walked of the bathroom she heard a loud band from downstairs. She headed towards the stairs and noticed Yugi's door was open. She peeked inside and saw he wasn't in there.

Then she heard him yell from downstairs. "Oh no grandpa you burned it!" She continued her way downstairs following the noise to the kitchen. She laughed to herself as she leaned against the wall watching Yugi and his grandpa at the stove.

_'She's awake and behind you,'_ Yami whispered quietly since he was still upset. Yugi turned around with a spatula in his hand and saw she was definitely standing there.

"Good morning Alara," Yugi said cheerfully. "I hope we didn't wake you."

"No I was already awake," Alara smiled.

"We're making breakfast for you if you want to go ahead and sit down."

"Yugi if you don't turn around or give me that spatula the rest of it will burn," Solomon scolded. Yugi turned around quickly, helped finish breakfast, and plated it. Everyone ate their fill of bacon, eggs, and toast and then took care of the dishes.

"Thank you guys that was great," Alara said with a smile. "So Yugi, are we still on for our study session later."

"Sure."

"What are you guys studying for?" Solomon asked.

"Math test tomorrow," Yugi answered.

"Do we still want to meet at my apartment at one?"

"Yea, if you're ok with it."

"What would you like for lunch I can make just about anything?"

Yugi thought for a moment before answering. "I wouldn't mind just a hamburger."

"Alright hamburgers and fries it is. I'm going to head out so I can make a stop at the store. Plus I need to take a shower and get this chlorine out of my hair." Alara went upstairs and changed back into her clothes. As she headed out she told Yugi how to get to her apartment. As Yugi walked back into the living room, his grandfather was sitting on the couch with a smirk on his face.

"What?" he asked as he stopped dead in his tracks. The old man just shook his head.

"You seemed a little distracted this morning. What has happened?" With a sigh Yugi sat down and told his grandfather what had happened that morning.

"The really weird thing is this is the second time I've noticed that she has been able to see the spirit."

"Second?" the old man questioned as Yugi then told him what happened at the water park. Solomon rubbed his chin in thought before final saying something. "What does the Pharaoh think?"

"He's just as confused about everything as I am. I haven't been able to really talk to him about what happened this morning. I was only able to get him to tell me what happened before he disappeared into the puzzle. Now he is just sitting there in his guilt trying to figure any of this out." Yugi picked up the golden pyramid around his neck and looked at it.

"Well there may be more to Alara than anyone knows, even her," Solomon said thoughtfully. "Maybe things will sort themselves out, and the spirit can apologize to her. It might make him feel better." They sat there in silence for a few minutes lost in their thoughts. Solomon then got up to open the store for the day. Yugi followed his lead and went to get ready for later.

Yugi looked at this clock; it read 12:30 pm, as he put everything he needed in his book bag. He put on his normal attire of the black tank top, pants, jacket, boots, collar, bracelets, and of course the Millennium Puzzle. He headed downstairs and talked to his grandpa for a few minutes before heading out the door. Yugi checked his phone when he got outside. It was 12:45; he had plenty of time to walk to Alara's. He sent her a quick text saying he was on his way.

As Yugi walked down the street he thought about what Yami had told him. He tried to think of any possibilities to how the spirit was able to touch Alara's cheek, and why she had the glow that appeared around her. It wasn't shadow magic for sure. That was the only magic that he knew of. Yami had said he had sensed something more pure about her. Yugi scratched his head in frustration the more he thought about everything, and the more he got confused and had more questions.

"Don't look back, but we have a follower," Yami said as he appeared next to him.

Yugi became nervous as he asked, "Who is it?"

"It's the same black cat Alara has seen around."

"I wonder why it's following us."

"I don't know, but I really want to find out where it came from and why it keeps hanging around." Yugi nodded in agreement as they arrived in front of Alara's apartment building. He headed inside and knocked on door two.

"Come on in Yugi!" he heard Alara shout from inside. He walked in and was welcomed by the wonderful smell of hamburgers cooking. "Make yourself at home I'm just finishing up lunch." He shut the door and slid his boots off. He looked around at her decorations as he headed towards the living room. A lot of the decorations looked like they came from Egypt. There were pictures of the pyramids, walls that were covered in hieroglyphs, and a painted picture of the sun setting in the desert. Next to her Ipod dock was a vase full of blue flowers.

_'Lilies,'_ Yugi thought as he remembered she had picked the same flower yesterday. He felt something brush against his leg, and looked down to see a grey cat with black spots. He picked the cat up and started to pet it. The cat let out a meow as it started to purr. He walked over to the kitchen where Alara was getting something out of the fridge.

She was wearing a red tank top, a pair of short jean shorts, and her hair was pulled up into a pony tail with a few shorter strands of hair that framed around her face.

"Who's this?" Yugi asked.

Alara turned around and smiled. "That's Nanu I got her for my sixteenth birthday present."

"What kind of cat is she?"

"She's an Egyptian Mau. Ok food is ready; first we'll eat and watch TV. Then we'll work on that worksheet."

Two hours later Alara and Yugi had eaten their food and were almost finished with the review worksheet. Yugi was finishing up the last problem. When he was confident with the answer he slid the paper to Alara so she could check it for him. As he waited he scratched Nanu behind the ears. She had taken an immediate liking to him, and had curled up and fallen asleep in his lap.

"Perfect," Alara said sliding the paper back over. "I think you're ready for the test tomorrow." She got up and took their dishes to the kitchen, setting them in the sink.

"Thanks to your help," Yugi stated. Alara took a deep breath as she was walked back in the living room, and sat back down on the floor next to Yugi. _'If I'm going to ask this may be my opportune moment.'_

"Yugi, can I ask you something."

"Yea, anything."

Alara opened her mouth to ask, but was stopped short when her cellphone began to ring. She picked it and looked at the caller id to see it was her assistant, Alex, calling. "Excuse me for a moment." She headed to the back door, and stepped out on the balcony and answered the phone.

**"Hello Alex."**

**"Hello Alara are you doing well? I hope I didn't interrupt you if you were doing anything."**

**"I'm doing well thank you, and you didn't interrupt I was just hanging with a friend."**

**"Well I have some news from Egypt."**

**"That's great is it good or bad news?"**

**"Well I have one thing of good news and one bad."**

**"How bad is bad?"**

**"It's not terrible. They made small progress with the collapsed hallway, but they didn't have strong enough supports up and it collapsed again."**

Alara sighed in frustration before asking,** "Was anybody hurt?"**

**"No everyone is fine."**

**"Is that the good news?"**

**"No, they actually discovered something."**

**"What is it?" **Alara's interest perked up immediately.

**"There were some translators working on the hieroglyphs by the entrance from the Pharaoh's tomb. They discovered a name to the woman."**

**"What's her name?" **Alara whispered.

**"Her name was Lanea."**

**"Lanea," **Alara whispered. She felt her heart start to beat faster, and as a feeling of enlightening washed over her.** "Thank you Alex if anything else happens let me know."**

**"Of course have a good day."** Alara stared out towards the city for a few seconds. She was in awe that they had discovered such a big piece of the puzzle. She headed back inside and saw that Yugi was giving her a questioning look.

"They discovered the woman's name."

Both Yugi and Yami were shocked to the news and curious to what it was. "What's her name?"

"Lanea"

Yami felt his heart began to beat faster as he said the name again in his head. "Lanea, that's a pretty name," Yugi said after it sunk it for a few seconds. "You must be very happy."

"I am. It is a big piece to the puzzle, but at the same time it seems so small." Then she remembered that she was about to ask him a question before the call came in. She went and sat back down next to Yugi. "You know what we'll talk a little more about it later. I know your grandpa will be excited to know about her name. I had almost forgotten there was a question I wanted to ask you."

"Oh yea! Go ahead and ask."

Alara took a deep breath and continued. "I've been curious ever since we met a week ago; about the Millennium Puzzle. I feel like this isn't the first time I've seen it; which also brings another thought to mind. Why do you think we became friends so quickly?"

"I felt like I already knew you," Yugi shrugged. "So when we did really hang out it felt natural. It felt like I knew you since we were kids."

"I felt the same way ever since I started watching your duels when I was still in Egypt. Even now I feel like there is something I'm still missing." They sat in silence as they got lost in their thoughts once again. Yugi remembered she wanted to ask a question about the Millennium Puzzle.

"What did you want to ask about the puzzle?" he asked even though he had a feeling he knew what it was.

"Oh yea, well I guess it's the curious nature in me, but would you mind if I examined the puzzle? I promise not to drop it or anything."

Yugi paused for a second as he remembered his grandfather's words. "Yea of course." He pulled the large chain over his head, and handed it to her.

"Why such a big chain?"

"There were things that happened in the past, and I wanted something that would be more secure than some rope."

"It's so beautiful," she said as she examined it and turned it around. She stopped at the front where the Eye of Horus was at. She ran her finger over the eye as she noticed that the object as a whole felt warm. She stared directly into the eye as the temperature of the puzzle increased. Her eyes grew wide as the eye began to glow. Alara closed her eyes tightly as the light became blinding.

Yugi turned away as the light from the puzzle became too bright. In the next second the light was gone. He looked back to see Alara was still staring at the puzzle with a blank face. He waved his hand in front of her eyes, but she didn't even react.

"Well it looks like the puzzle transported her mind inside," he sighed. "I guess it's time she met the Nameless Pharaoh." He closed his eyes and transported his mind to the hallway that connected his soul room to the Millennium Puzzle. He opened the darker door; walking in and almost running into Yami.

"She arrived just a few seconds ago," the spirit said. Yugi looked over the edge of the pathway they were standing on, and saw Alara standing there looking around confused.

"Well now it's your turn to meet her personally," Yugi said with a smile. He turned and headed for the door back out into the hallway.

"Where are you going?" Yami asked looking back.

"Well I don't think you need me to hold your hand to talk to a girl." Yugi smirked as a deep blush crossed the Pharaoh's face. "Plus I figured you'd tell me what happened." Yami turned back around, and then jumped down off of the pathway to the same landing Alara stood on.

Alara opened her eyes as the light faded. She looked around in confusion since she could tell she wasn't in her living room anymore. "Where the hell am I?" She turned around as she looked at all of the pathways and staircases that were going in all different directions.

"Your name is Alara correct?" Alara turned around quickly when she heard the deep voice behind her. She was shocked to see Yugi standing behind her, but he looked different. He looked much more confident, powerful, less childlike, and a little taller. His hair was the same except for the three blond bangs that stood straight up and out the sides. Then his eyes were much more demanding and strong. They were the same bright amethyst, but around the irises was an accent of crimson red.

"Yugi?" she asked confused.

"No, I'm called Yami or Pharaoh. I'm the spirit that resides within the Millennium Puzzle."

"We're inside the puzzle?"

"Yes." Alara's mind started to go a mile a minute as everything she knew about the puzzle rushed past. The main part that stuck was the legend of the ancient pharaoh that locked his soul inside to seal away a great and powerful evil.

"So wait that means that the legends of the great Pharaoh are true."

"Yes that would be correct."

"So you are the Nameless Pharaoh, but wait shouldn't you know your own name."

Yami shook his head. "I wish it was that easy, but when I locked the evil away I used my name as the key. So I erased my name from everyone's memory and from the carvings in my tomb. That was what I was told from the tomb keepers."

"And your connection to Yugi is? I mean you guys look almost identical to each other."

"He is my modern day reincarnation. He was the one to solve the puzzle, and release me. He is basically my host since I have no true body anymore. I'm just a spirit."

"Then I'm guessing the legends of the Millennium Item's powers are very true as well."

Yami nodded. "The power and danger is very true and real if they fall into the wrong hands of course."

Alara looked over the spirit once again as she realized something. "That finally makes sense now! The shadow that I saw around Yugi was you, wasn't it. That's why it looked so similar."

Yami smiled and nodded once again. "I do want to ask though how you are able to see me. No one can see me besides Yugi."

"Well, I do have a gift of being able to see spirits…...like the dead. The ones I see the most and are the easiest to see are spirits that are really powerful."

"That now makes sense why you could see me so easily." Suddenly a door appeared to Alara's left; Yami's right.

"What's with the door?" Alara asked.

"I'm not sure," Yami replied as his curiosity started to grow.

"Shouldn't you know? You do live within the puzzle."

Yami looked at her from the corner of his eye. "That may be, but the puzzle has many hidden secrets that even I don't know about this could be anything." The clicking sound of a lock unlocking echoed out around them. The door swung open on its own revealing a light. The light grew brighter and brighter forcing the two of them to shield their eyes. They opened their eyes and were shocked to see what looked like Egypt around them.

It looked like they were standing in small oasis behind a large palace. There was grass that stood up to their ankles and blue flowers dotted the grass. A large river could be seen about a hundred feet away off to the left. Then in the distance you could see two large pyramids. A woman, that was in the same field as Alara and Yami, stood up and turned around facing their direction.

Alara and Yami both gasped in shock at what they saw. "Alara, that woman looks just like you. I bet she is you in your past life. I have a feeling what we are seeing is a memory of mine."


	8. Chapter 8: The Memory

Such an Irony: Thank you so much for the follow!

PirateKing81: Thank you so much for the story follow, favorite, and the author follow!

BrightLightsBiggerCity: Oh Ra thanks for the review as always! ^-^ It made my day so much better. I read it every time I was upset about something, and it always made me feel better. I'm glad that you think she's blending in well. I worked hard on trying to do that, but not make it seem like she was just pushing her way in or anything else. I hope you like this chapter where we first really meet Lanea, but we'll continue to learn more about her through the story!

Alright everybody here is the very first memory out of many. I'm sorry that it's not really a happy memory...

Yami: But wait it's a memory of mine so it should be happy, and the fact it's about someone that meant so much to me...

Hypothetically yes, but that's not what really happens.

Yami: *stares at me with a blank stare* Ra damn it can't I have something good happen for once! *Begins chancing me around*

Damn it Yugi get your alter ego under control!

Yugi: Not my fault you did it.

I realize, but I promise things do get better...eventually! *Kiyomi steps between me and Yami*

Yami: Step out from behind your damn dragon!

No! Yugi please do the disclaimer, and get this started!

Yugi: *sighs* Feriua does not own any Yu-Gi-Oh characters. All rights belong to their rightful owners. Feriua does own her original characters and plot

~Chapter 8: The Memory~

Alara stared at the woman that was basically a spitting image of her. The only real difference was her eyes were flipped in the colors compared to hers. Alara's were dark green with specks of baby blue; while the other woman's eyes were baby blue with specks of dark green.

The woman was wearing a white top that stopped just under her chest with an accent of deep purple around the low cut neckline. Her skirt rested low on her hips and had a slit that went up the right leg, and stopped about mid-thigh. There was a sheer purple fabric that wrapped around her hips and tied into a knot in the front, and simple white sandals on her feet. Around her neck was a gold necklace made up of swirls. On both of her upper arms were gold bands and around her right wrist was a single gold bracelet. She wore gold earrings that were in the shape of ankhs. Alara couldn't see much detail on the bracelet, but it looked like it was attached to a ring around the woman's middle finger with a small chain.

The woman looked up and smiled as a man that was a spitting image of Yami walked up. He was wearing a golden crown on his head with the Eye of Wdjat in the center. It wrapped behind his ears where it flared out into wings. He had earrings in the shape of ankhs in his ears. There were gold bands around his wrist, upper arms, and calves. A golden collar wrapped around his neck holding his tunic, and a single wing set on his left shoulder. A gold belt was around his waist holding his shenti, and a blue cloth dropped down the front. A large deep purple cape was wrapped around his shoulders, and flared out behind him, .

"Hello my Prince I want to ask your opinion about something," the woman said.

"What is it?" he smiled.

"What do you think of these flowers?" She held up about five of the same flowers that were in the field. "They are such a perfect shade of blue. It's almost the same color as the Nile at noon."

"Blue lilies," Alara whispered.

"They are beautiful." He placed his hand on her shoulder "Of course not as beautiful as you my love. Why do you ask?" Alara and Yami glanced at each other before looking back to the memory quickly as a blush crossed their faces.

"I thought about using these flowers as my bouquet for our wedding in two days." Alara's mouth dropped open to what she heard. _'This must be her.'_

"That would be a perfect idea." He leaned down slightly and placed a light kiss on the woman's lips. Alara's face felt like it was on fire as she watched this. She was glad for the distraction as two guards ran up to the others.

"My Prince," they stopped and bowed to him.

"What is it?"

"We have a message from your father, the Pharaoh." The man nodded leading the two guards a few steps away to speak more in private. The woman went back to walking through the grass picking more flowers. She started to walk towards where Alara and Yami were standing. She didn't take more than three steps before she fell to ground, and screamed. She grabbed her left leg just above the ankle, and they could see the blood that started to stain her skirt already.

The prince whipped back around and yelled the woman's name. "LANEA!" As she heard the name Alara felt the stabbing pain in her left leg too. She let out a scream as she fell to the ground as well.

"ALARA! What's wrong?" Yami yelled as he ran to her side.

"I can feel the same pain," she said simply. Yami looked back to the memory as he could feel the familiar emotions to what was happening. He felt scared and worried. He watched as he ran to the other woman's side.

"Stop my Prince!" Lanea raised her right hand up that was now covered in blood. The prince and the two guards stopped just a few feet away from the woman. "There's a snake next to me, and I don't want it to strike you next."

"I see it, it's a horned viper." He glared at the viper that was curled up and ready to strike again. It only sat about a foot away from Lanea's leg. He turned to the guards behind him, and took the pike out of one of their hands. "I need you to sit very still so I don't hit you, or make it strike again." Lanea nodded as tears began to fall from her eyes. She twitched ever so slightly as the pain increased.

The man took his aim carefully, and then threw the pike. It made its mark about a hand's width away from the head pinning it to the ground.

"Give me your sword," he spoke to the other guard as he handed it over. "One of you takes Lanea to her chambers right away. The other fetches the royal healers immediately, and then informs my mother and father." One of the guards picked up the injured woman, and they both headed towards the palace.

"Be careful my love," Lanea called out. The man nodded as he was left alone with the deadly snake. He walked up to it stopping just short of its striking range. The snake constantly tried to strike its target, but always fell short.

"I'll send you back to the hell from which you came," he whispered as he brought the sword down; cutting the snake's head off. He stood there for a second before taking off into a run towards Lanea's chambers. It took a few minutes as it was on the other side of the palace from where they had been. When he arrived he saw that two guards were standing outside.

"How is she?" he asked as he tried to catch his breath.

"The royal healers have been in there for a few minutes, sir." He nodded and walked to the nearest pillar and leaned against it. He finished catching his breath as he waited for the healers to come out. He lowered his head as tears began to fall; for he was afraid of what might happen to his love. Alara placed a hand on her chest as her heart began to race, and it became harder for her to breath.

"Alara are you ok?" Yami asked with a concerned look on his face.

"No," she whispered. "My heart is racing and it's getting harder to breath. It feels like the venom is running through my veins."

After what seemed like an eternity the doors opened and the healers walked out. The prince walked up to the lead healer who bowed in greeting.

"How is she?"

"I'm sorry my prince, but we did what we could. The poison is moving through her system very quickly. We tried to drain out as much as we could. We were able to stop the bleeding and bandage her leg."

The prince felt is heart breaking as he listened to the healer. "How much time does she have?"

"Not much longer. I wouldn't even say an hour." The healer walked away as he headed towards the doors. He stopped in front of the door, and took a deep breath.

"I want no one to enter this room unless it's my parents or I come out personally," he said to the guards.

"Yes sir," they responded. As he walked in the room Alara started to see black spots in her vision, and her leg began to throb with more pain. The prince shut the door behind him and looked on to his love lying in her bed. He could see that she was a great deal of pain by the expression on her face. As he sat down next to her bed he grabbed a towel out of the basin filled with water by her bed. He wiped it across her forehead trying to clear the sweat off.

"I'm so sorry," she said through labored breathing. "I should have been more careful."

"Hush there is nothing to be sorry about. There is nothing you are at fault for. It was all on that damn snake from hell."

"I know what is going to happen, and you must be strong for all of the people of Egypt."

"Hush you must save your strength," he said as tears began to gather in his eyes.

"My love," she said as she weakly reached out to him. He took her right hand in his as he rubbed his finger against her hand. It brushed against the bracelet that he had given to her as his betrothal gift. "You must be strong for me, and for Egypt. I'm sorry that I won't be able to rule by your side. You shall be a true and powerful Pharaoh."

"Lanea please….," he tried to speak as the tears started to fall. He felt his heart shattering as he watched Lanea's life slowly slipping away. Alara's breaths were getting shallower as her vision started to turn fuzzy.

"I love you with all my heart…please be strong for the both us. May Ra watch over you and guide you in all of your times of need, my love…my Pharaoh."

"I love you with all my heart, my love." He gave her hand a gentle squeeze, and she returned it with as much strength as she could muster. She smiled at him one last time as the darkness over took her vision. As she closed her eyes a single tear rolled down her cheek. He felt her weak grip on his hand lessen, and then her hand fell limp in his. He laid her hand on her stomach as she watched the Eye of Wdjat appear on her forehead. It shined brightly for a second, and then faded away.

"May your soul travel to the afterlife safely and rest in peace. May Ra travel with you and watch over you." He kissed her forehead, then her eyes, and finally on the lips. He looked down on her as the tears continually fell. Some his tears fell upon her face and rolled down her cheeks. He sat back down on her bed and pulled her into his arms. As he continued to weep for his lost lover he heard the door open and someone entered. He paid no attention to them.

"Lanea…my love…I love you," he sat there whispering over and over.

"I'm very sorry my son," said the Queen as she wrapped an arm around his shoulder. As this last scene played out in front of Alara's eyes the darkness took over her vision. Her breaths finally slowed down to nothing at all. The drumming of her heartbeat in her ears slowed and stopped. She felt a tear run down her cheek as she lost her strength, and started to fall forward.

"ALARA!" she heard Yami yell. Just before she lost consciousness she felt strong arms catch her before she could hit the floor.

After a few seconds Alara felt her strength start to return. She opened her eyes, but saw nothing but darkness all around her. The place had a feeling of emptiness and despair. As the last parts of Yami's memory played through her mind she started to realize what might have actually happened.

"Did I really die?" she spoke out loud. "Is this what it really feels like? Is this where we actually end up…...in an empty void of eternal darkness. I wonder if this is what my parents felt when they died." Alara continued to sit there and think about everything, and it felt like an eternity had passed. She started to come to the realization and acceptation that she couldn't find her way out of this place of darkness and shadows. She started to feel depressed as she began to think that she had truly died.

Alara looked around as she thought she heard a noise. She shook her head and just blamed it on hearing things. Then she heard the noise again, but louder. The noise continued to grow louder and louder.

"That's a voice," she whispered.

"Alara!" she jumped slightly as she heard her name.

"Alara!"

"Wait a minute that sounded like Yugi." She realized as the voice continued to grow louder.

"Alara, you must wake up!"

"And that sounded like Yami." She turned as a faint light appeared to her left.

"Please Alara!" Yugi said. The light continued to grow brighter and brighter.

"Alara, you must fight the darkness!" Yami yelled. Alara jumped up and started to run towards the light. In her heart she knew it lead to safety and her friends. The two voices continued to yell her name as she ran into the light.

Alara's eyes snapped open to see Yugi leaning over her on her right. A transparent Yami was leaning over her on the left. They moved back to give her space as she sat up; grabbing her head as it started to throb.

"How long have I been out? And why does my forehead feel like it's on fire?"

"Well from the time the puzzle transported your mind inside until now it has been about thirty minutes," Yugi answered as he glanced over to Yami.

*Yami is lying on the ground as smoke is curling off his body. Kiyomi blows out a puff of smoke before curling back up*

I told you not to piss her off! Anyways I'm sorry this chapter is a little on the shorter side. I didn't really realize it until I was setting it up to be posted. I do promise that next week's chapter is twice as long!


	9. Chapter 9: So Much Information

Alright here we go the next chapter! I do warn there is another duel in this chapter, but I didn't write it like the other one. It was just too hard and complicated to write everything out turn by turn. The first one took three hours, and it sucked majorly. So it starts just a couple of turns before the end of the duel, and shows the few main points. Enjoy!

I do not own any Yu-Gi-Oh characters. All rights belong to their rightful owners. I do own her original characters and plot

_'Thoughts'_  
**"Phone Conversation"  
**'Texts'

~Chapter 9: So Much Information So Little Time~

_Thirty minutes earlier…_

Yugi opened his eyes as he returned from the puzzle. He looked around, twiddling his thumbs as he waited. To help pass the time he got up, and walked out onto the balcony. He stood there enjoying the view of the city, and wondered what Yami and Alara were talking about. He felt a slight disconnection between him and Yami, but brushed it off. He figured Yami was giving him and Alara some privacy. He walked back inside and refilled his drink as he started to grow impatient.

_'Seriously, what're they talking about that could take this long.' _At that moment Yugi heard a faint yell through his mental connection to Yami.

_'Alara!'_ He had to catch the glass he almost dropped before he whipped around, and ran back to Alara and the puzzle. He tried to gain access to the puzzle, but was blocked by a barrier.

"Yami what's going on? Is Alara hurt?" He yelled as he kept pushing on the door into the puzzle. He kept calling out to the spirit, but he never got an answer. Since he was making no progress he returned to his body, and continued to wait. After about five minutes he felt a rush of emotion come from Yami. He knew then that the strange barrier from earlier was gone.

"Alara!" he heard Yami yell again. He quickly made his way into the puzzle to see Yami kneeling down with Alara in his arms.

"Yami what happened?" The spirit looked up at the young boy, and just shook his head as tears ran down his face. Yugi watched as Alara slowly faded away. "She must have returned to her body, but seriously what happened?"

"A memory of mine appeared," the spirit stuttered. "But that can wait we need to check and see if she's ok." He nodded and then closed his eyes to return to his body. Yugi opened his eyes as Yami appeared next to him. They looked over to see Alara was now lying down instead of sitting up, her eyes had closed, but she was still unconscious. She still held the puzzle in her hands.

"Something's wrong she should have woken up when she disappeared from the puzzle." Yugi nodded as he grabbed a pillow off the couch, and placed it under her head. As he took he puzzle from her hands he noticed that it felt like she had a fever. He got up and ran to the bathroom.

"What are you doing?" Yami asked.

"She feels like she's running a fever. I'm getting a cold rag to put on her forehead," he yelled back as he looked through the bathroom cabinets until he found what he was looking for, and ran it under the cool water.

"She does feel really hot," Yami said. When Yugi returned he looked on in shock as Yami's hand was actually touching her.

"You can feel the heat transfer?" Yugi asked as he kneeled down.

"Yea it's really weird."

"I guess you were really telling the truth. " Yugi placed the towel across her forehead as Yami moved his hand.

"Did you think I was lying?"

"No I was just skeptical."

"Why hasn't she woken up still?" Yami asked as he grew more worried.

Yugi removed the cloth and answered, "I don't know."

"Alara," Yami said as Yugi gave him a puzzled look. "I want to try saying her name to see if it will bring her around."

Yugi nodded and joined in. "Alara!"

"Alara, you must wake up!" Yami said a little louder.

"Please, Alara!"

"Alara, you must fight the darkness!"

"Yami look," Yugi said as he pointed towards Alara's forehead. Glowing brightly was the Eye of Wdjat on her forehead. "Why is that there?"

"I might have an idea."

"Let me guess it has something to do with what happened in the puzzle?" Yami nodded as the glow began to fade. As the last part of the eye faded away Alara's eyes snapped open.

_'Do you think we should tell her about the eye?' _Yugi asked as they moved out of the way as she sat up.

_'Not yet, she's going to have a lot on her mind already.'_

"How long have I been out? And why does my forehead fell like it's on fire?"

"Well from the time the puzzle transported your mind inside until now it has been about thirty minutes," Yugi answered as he glanced over at Yami. "And when you were unconscious you were running a slight fever."

Alara rubbed her temples trying to push her headache away. "I'll be right back I'm going to grab some aspirin." They watched her walk away, and then looked at each other with worried expressions.

"I hope this isn't too much, and drives her away," Yugi whispered, and Yami nodded.

"Although I think she'll want more information from us. I have a feeling that with what happened with my memory she'll want to discover more of Lanea's tomb in Egypt." As Yami said the name of his past lover he felt a rush of emotions again; happiness, sadness, love, and a little bit of loneliness and emptiness.

"Are you ok?" Yugi asked as he had felt the rush of emotions too. Yami nodded with a weak smile as Alara returned with two drinks. She handed one to Yugi as she sat down on the couch.

"I would have brought you a drink Yami, but I didn't think you would be able to pick it up."

"It's ok. Alara can I say something?"

"Yea you don't have to ask."

"Well I just wanted to apologize for scaring you the other night."

"I forgive you, just don't stand over me in the middle of the night staring at me like a creeper," Alara smirked as Yami looked away as a blush crossed his face. "So I think you guys have a lot to catch me up on."

"Do you want the whole story? Like from when I solved the puzzle."

"Yes, but you don't have to go into great detail. You can do just the major highlights." Over the next thirty minutes Yugi told his and Yami's story from when the puzzle was completed to recently with the Kaiba Corp Grand Championship. Every so often Yami would add in a detail or two.

"Wow…"Alara sat there staring at them. "That's a lot to deal with. It put a lot of weight on your shoulders, and I thought I was going through a lot right now."

"It happens when you solve an ancient Egyptian artifact, and then everyone that wants to take over the world comes after us," Yugi shrugged.

"I know it's only been a couple months since the championship, but it seems weird that everything has been so quiet," Yami commented.

"It really has been quiet…almost too quiet," Yugi agreed.

"So you made a promise to Yami to help him get his memories back. How do you plan to do that?" Alara asked.

"Well we were supposed to visit the tablet again after the championship, but when we got back it was gone. It's currently at another museum for a short time. They said it would be back middle of June. So until then we can't do much."

"What will happen after you get your memories back Yami?"

"I'm not sure," he replied. "I'm guessing I might be able to gain access to the afterlife." Alara was a little saddened by what Yami said. She had just really met him, and it felt like there was such a big chance of him leaving so soon.

Alara sighed, "Oh man a lot has happened today. It gives me a lot to think about and work out."

"I'm sorry if this is way too much," Yugi said.

"It is but at the same time it's not. All of these things are really interesting. I think best on my feet. Would you like to take a walk with me?"

"Sure! We could walk through Domino Park; it's always really nice there."

"Perfect! Let me change into a pair of jeans." Alara got up and headed toward the bedroom. Yugi looked out toward the balcony to see the black cat once again.

"Yugi may I take over?" Yami asked as he was determined to figure out this cat. Yugi nodded as he closed his eyes and the puzzle glowed briefly as they switched places. Yami walked out onto the balcony as the cat walked a few steps away. It turned back around and sat there staring at him. As they stared at each other Yami could feel a slight pulse of magical energy. The weird thing was it didn't feel like shadow magic at all.

"Who are you and why do you keep following my friend around?" Yami asked.

"You do realize you're talking to a cat," Yugi said as he appeared next to him.

"I know, but there's something more about this cat than what meets the eye."

"Very good Pharaoh," the cat purred with a female voice. Yami and Yugi looked at the cat with wide eyes in shock.

"Who are you?"

"My name does not matter right now, but later on it shall."

"Why are you following my friend around?"

"Protection and guidance."

"Protecting her from what?"

"Well as of right now really nothing. There is no threat to her, and I have to keep it that way. We can't have her past creeping up on her again and repeating itself, now can we?"

"Her past shall not be repeated!" Yami growled.

"Are we sure about this? For if I have been told correctly every one of her ancestors died young. Just like your original betrothed Princess Lanea."

"You shall not speak of her! You don't know her!"

"Touchy, touchy Pharaoh; I know much more than what you can remember, and I know you don't remember much since your memories were wiped clean."

Yami growled in frustration before he continued questioning the strange cat. "What are you guiding her for then?"

"You shall find out. As long as she follows her heart correctly I won't have to do much. The memories of her past will return, and guide her to her destiny. Are we done playing twenty questions now?"

"No, what is with your collar? I feel a pulse of magic from it, but it is not shadow magic."

The cat looked down and placed a paw on the collar. "Oh my pendant; it's an heirloom that has been passed down in my family for generations. You wouldn't feel shadow magic coming from this; it was not created using the darkness. It comes from something a little bit better, but that's a story for another time."

"Yugi?" Alara said from inside.

"We shall meet again Pharaoh," the cat said as she jumped off the side of the balcony.

"Yugi what's going on?" Alara asked as Yami turned around. "Oh wait…Yami, how you are solid? And where is Yugi?"

"Oh yea we kind of forgot to mention that me and Yami can switch places," Yugi said as he came up next to Yami.

"Ok cool and a little bit weird." Alara looked back and forth between the two boys. "What was happening out here?" Yugi went to speak, but Yami cut him off.

"How about we tell you when we get to the park. It will give you time to think about everything else first so I can catch Yugi up on what happened inside the puzzle."

"Ok so are you guys ready to go?" Yami nodded and followed Alara back inside; before heading out to the park. Yami stayed in control as he told Yugi about the memory through their mental connection. Alara got lost in her thoughts as she tried to piece as much of the information together as possible.

_'Wow so that's why you were having such a rush of emotions earlier?'_

_'Yes I was basically reliving everything again, and by the way Alara reacted to everything at the same time she was reliving it all as well.'_

_'I feel bad for both of you. That is really hard to lose the one you love just days before you were to be married.'_ Yami nodded as they crossed the street and walked into Domino Park.

"Hey Yami I have a question about something I noticed before I passed out during your memory."

"What is it?"

"Well I noticed when Lanea died the Eye of Wdjat appeared on her forehead. What does that mean?"

"Well from past experiences the eye always shows up when shadow magic is being used and channeled through a Millennium Item. Maybe Lanea had some sort of magical capabilities. I have also found out that it could be a sign from the Gods that someone of royalty has passed on to the afterlife."

"Hhmm, that actually does make a lot of sense. Oh, what happened out on the balcony earlier?" Yami told Alara about the cat and what she had said.

"Alright officially everything just keeps getting weirder today."

"Unless something actually happens I wouldn't worry too much about," Yugi said as he appeared suddenly between Yami and Alara. Of course it scared Alara making her jump about a foot in the air. "SORRY!"

"It's ok that's just something I will have to get used to. Can everyone else see you guys as spirits?"

"Nope just the two of us can see each other…and well now you," Yugi replied with a smile. Alara continued walking as she continued to grow worried. The more she thought about what the cat said made her afraid that something terrible might happen.

Yami saw the worried look on Alara's face and asked, "Are you worried about what she said about your past repeating?"

"Yea I just feel like something is going to happen now. It could be anything like a person breaking into my apartment or a car accident. It could be tomorrow or months down the road." Alara felt tears start to appear in her eyes as different scenarios played through her mind.

"Alara you must calm down," Yami said as he saw the tears starting to show. "Don't let it get to you. You can't be afraid to live every day. You can still live every day like you never heard that information. All you have to do is just keep an eye out for anything suspicious and weird. Think about us we've been through so much together through the years so an uneventful day is weird for us." Alara nodded as Yami's words sunk in, and lifted her spirits some. "I'll make a promise with your right now. No matter what happens as long as I'm around I'll protect you to my best abilities, and won't let any harm come to you."

"I'll keep you to that promise, but what happens if you do leave?"

"Then I'll take over," Yugi said.

"Thank you guys you're the best," Alara said as she pulled Yami into a hug. It caught him off guard as a blush crossed his face as he returned the hug. Yugi moved in front of Yami with a giant smirk on his face.

_'Shut it,' _Yami warned through their connection.

_'Come on Pharaoh we are connected remember. I felt your heart start to race a little bit there."_ Yami gave him a quick scowl as him and Alara split before continuing to walk.

_'Then I shouldn't have to say anything about you with Tea then,' _Yami smiled.

_'Hey now don't use my tactics against me!'_

_'I have no idea what you're talking about.'_

After a few minutes of silence another question occurred to Alara. "What do you think my destiny is that the cat mentioned?"

Yami thought for a moment before answering. "I'm not quite sure. It could be anything; it could be something really complicated or something really simple. Have you felt really drawn to something? Or had the feeling you had deeper purpose to something?"

"Not that I can think of off the top of my head."

"Hhmm maybe it will come in time." Alara nodded as she felt her spirits rise once again. They came upon the large fountain that was in the center of the park. Alara went and sat down on the edge of the fountain, and stared down at her reflection. Even though it looked the same something had changed about her. She stuck her hand in the cold water, and moved it back and forth pushing the water around.

Yami stood next to her watching and wondering what she was thinking about now. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, and when he opened his eyes the scene in front of him had changed.

He looked around and saw he wasn't in the park anymore. To his left and right was nothing, but sand. He looked down, and saw he was wearing the same clothes from when he was the Prince and Pharaoh of Egypt.

_'What's going on?'_ he asked himself as he looked ahead. He saw a tall palm tree next a large river. A woman sat on the edge of the river with her hand in the water. The woman turned, and looked at him. He was surprised to see Alara, or in this time period it was Lanea.

She tilted her head to the side before asking, "What's wrong?" Yami closed his eyes, and shook his head slightly. When he opened his eyes everything had returned to normal.

"What's wrong?" Alara asked again.

He rubbed his eyes as he answered, "Nothing my vision just changed on me."

"What do you mean?" Yugi asked next. Yami explained to them what happened.

"That's odd."

"Do you think that since you were able to unlock that memory it might bring some more of your memories back?" Alara asked.

"I don't know it could be possible. But will it be more memories between me and Lanea or other parts of my past."

"I think they would be more of you and Lanea, but we don't know for sure. It could be possible that other parts of your past could show up. Also come to think of it, maybe that won't happen again or maybe it will. I guess we'll never know unless it happens again," Yugi said thoughtfully.

"Dang Yugi that was a lot to get through," Alara said as he shrugged his shoulders. A chilly breeze blew through the area sending a chill down Alara's spine, and causing her to shiver in response.

"Come on," Yami said as he held his hand out. "It's getting chilly out here why don't we head back to your place." She took his hand as he helped her to her feet.

"Such a gentleman," she joked.

"I try," he smiled. They made their way back out of the park while having small talk. As they arrived back in front of Alara's apartment a black limo pulled up to the curb. A young boy with black shaggy hair stepped out.

"Hi Mokuba," Alara greeted as she recognized him.

"Hi Alara! Hi Yugi!"

Yami let out a deep sigh as he already knew why Mokuba was there. "Again already Mokuba?"

"Yea," Mokuba sighed looking down. "You know he's really obsessed with it."

Alara looked between the two confused as ever. "What are you two talking about?"

"Kaiba constantly challenges me to duels because he is determined to find a way to beat me. The only problem is I have my deck, but I just don't have my duel disk."

"Mine is upstairs in my apartment, you can borrow if you want."

"Thank you that would be great." Alara ran upstairs, and grabbed the duel disk off her dresser. As she turned to leave she looked back to her deck sitting on her bedside table. As she stared at it she felt a pull towards it. It felt like she needed to take her deck with her. She finally decided to take it even though she probably wouldn't even need it. She set the duel disk on her bed, and grabbed her deck belt from the closet. She put it on, and slid her deck inside. As she headed back towards the door she grabbed the duel disk.

Yami watched Alara run down the steps of the building, and noticed her deck on her hip. "Why did you bring your deck?"

"I had this weird feeling that I needed it, and I should bring it. It felt like it was almost calling out to me," Alara replied as she climbed into the limo behind Mokuba. Yami climbed in after her, shutting the door as the limo took off towards the Kaiba Dome.

The limo arrived at the dome in no time. Everyone got out and headed through the front doors; where Kaiba was waiting in front of the elevators.

"You know why I've called you here Yugi."

"Yes the same thing every time."

"Why do you constantly challenge him Kaiba if he keeps beating you every single time?" Alara asked.

"If you must know I'm determined to find a way to beat him. More importantly why are you here?" Kaiba grumbled.

"Well since Yugi was at my house when Mokuba came and got him, he didn't have his duel disk I'm letting him borrow mine," she replied crossing her arms.

"How did you get a duel disk? Only duelers can have them."

"First, with my money I bought it," she snapped as she pulled out her deck. "Second, I am a duelist."

Kaiba laughed for a few seconds before continuing. "There is no way you're a duelist. Even if you are, you're probably just a second rate duelist just like Wheeler."

"I'm not a second rate duelist! Joey is a great duelist even when I dueled and beat him."

"You beat Wheeler; well I guess just about anybody can do that. But you could never be on my level."

"I'm not on your level!" Alara started as her anger continued to rise. Yami stood back watching as Alara began screaming at Kaiba. Kaiba just stood there with a smug look on his face as he took everything she threw at him. Every so often he would say something that would make her continue her yelling rant. Yugi and Mokuba stood on either side of Yami with blank expressions as they watch the scene in front of them.

Yugi leaned toward Yami and asked, "Are you going to stop this?"

Yami shook his head with a smirk. "Nope, Alara is handling herself pretty well. I think it's kind of funny to watch this compared to Joey trying to knock him out." Yugi's attention was brought back to the front when it got quiet.

"Are you done?" Kaiba smirked.

"Not quite," Alara snarled. "Instead of continuing my rant, how about you put your cards where your mouth is? Duel me right now, and see if I'm on your level or not."

"Why would I waste my time with you? I didn't bring Yugi here for you to tag along, and think you could challenge me."

"It wasn't my original intention, but with the situation I want to wipe that smug look off your face. I want to show you that you're not all high and mighty. You may have money, but that doesn't make you invincible."

"This is getting to be ridiculous…" Kaiba started before his phone rang. **"What is it?"**

**"I'm sorry to bother you sir, but we have all the background information on the girl that you requested."**

**"Go on,"**Kabia said as he turned away.

**"Well, you already saw the information on her parents."**

**"Yes, get on with it."**

**"Well, she does have some championships. They're not big ones, but they are the Regional and Grand Championship in Cairo, Egypt."**

**"Alright,"** Kaiba said as he turned back around and hung up. "Something has been brought to my attention, and I think I will take you up on that offer. I can challenge Yugi whenever I want to." Both Yugi and Yami rolled their eyes.

"What has gotten you so interested now?" Alara asked slightly shocked by the change in Kaiba.

"Well, now I know you've won few titles in Egypt." Yami and Yugi looked at each other, and shrugged their shoulders.

"How do you know about that? Wait did you do a background check on me? That's invasion of privacy!"

"Whatever, I can do what I want. Come on, you were so hyped up about challenging me. Do you want to still challenge me or are you too afraid, and now your backing down," Kaiba smirked.

"Oh no I going to show you that I'm on your level. I accept your challenge!" Everyone headed to the elevator, and made their way up to the duel arena. Kaiba and Mokuba rode in one elevator, and Yami and Alara in another. Yami handed the duel disk back to Alara and wished her luck. When they reached the top Kaiba and Alara headed to the center of the arena. Yami walked off to the left side, and stood an even distance between the two.

"Who do you think will win?" Yugi asked.

"Of course I'm rooting for Alara, but I don't know if she has faced anyone as tough as Kaiba before. He did mention she has won titles. Dueling Joey is completely different from dueling Kaiba. We've seen a lot of his strategies, but who knows how much she's seen."

"Well she did say that she watched the Duel Monsters Channel, which covered most of our duels. She may have more of an advantage than what Kaiba may think. If I was him I wouldn't count her out so quickly. We've only seen a little bit of her deck and if she has the new card in her deck we don't know what kind of abilities it has." Yami nodded in agreement, and hoped that Alara didn't jump the gun thinking she could beat him. Even though Yugi did have a point she may know much more about Kaiba's deck than he knows, and he might think this is going to be an easy duel like with Joey.

Kaiba and Alara met each other in the middle, and shuffled each other's deck. Before moving back to their positions, and placing their decks into the duel disk. They came to life, lighting up with their life points, and moved into position.

"Let's Duel!" they both yelled out.

Alara had started off strong, and knocked Kaiba down a bit. But now she was in a tight spot, and she couldn't think of any way out of it. She had to really watch her life points first since she was down to 900. She was able to get Kaiba's down to 2600 though, but her main goal was to prevent his one main strategy of raising his dragons. But that only last for a couple of turns. Now she was staring down his most powerful monster the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon. She had one face down card and no monsters on the field. Luckily since he just polymerized the dragon it couldn't attack until his next turn, but she was curious to what card he had face down as well.

"Alara!" She turned in looked in the direction where Yugi was. "I know you're in a tight spot, but you can pull through this. You have to trust in yourself and your deck. If you put your faith into it you will be able to draw the card you need."

Alara nodded with a smile; she felt her confidence rise, and felt like the next draw could win it all.

"Are you going to draw already so I can finish you off?" Kaiba yelled.

"I'm going to draw, and it will be me that is going to finish this duel!" Alara closed her eyes as she placed her hand on her deck. _'I trust myself, and my deck. This will be the one card I need.'_ She drew her card, and looked; it was the Queen's Guardian. She felt a little nervous, but after looking at the card for a second a grin spread across her face. This was the card that she needed.

"Do you see that smile on her face," Yugi said. "I think she got the card that she needed."

Yami nodded. "Let's see what it is, and what she's going to do with it."

"Alright, this is the first step to the end Kaiba," Alara said.

"You're bluffing nothing in that pathetic deck can bring down my dragon."

"Oh I'm not planning to bring it down."

"What?"

"First, I play Flamvell Firedog in attack mode, but he's not staying for long. I sacrifice him to summon Queen's Guardian in attack mode."

"That monster is still too weak; it can't bring down my Blue Eyes."

"Like I said I'm not bringing the dragon down. I'm going to activate one of my Guardian's special abilities. If I choose to she can take control of one of my opponent's monsters if it's a light attribute, just like her, and bring it to my side. First I must give up half of my life points." Her life point counter dropped down to 450 as she activated Queen's Guardian's special ability. The angel raised her right hand, and a ball of light appeared. The Blue Eyes looked up at the light, and moved to other side of the field next to the guardian.

"No, you can't take my dragon!" Kaiba yelled in frustration.

"I have, and now Blue Eyes attack him directly wiping out his life points." The dragon raised its three heads as the energy gathered power in front of their mouths.

"No, I activate my spell card Shrink." Kaiba tried in desperation to cut the power of the attack, and have some life points left.

"I'm sorry, but I'm going to stop that with my own spell card De-Spell." Kaiba's revealed spell card shattered. "Now, Blue Eyes finish your attack!" The three dragon heads released their attack, and blowing all of Kaiba's life points away.

"NO!" he yelled as he fell to his knees and the holograms faded around them.

"See Kaiba maybe you should trust in your deck a little better and that may not have happened," Alara said as she walked half the distance to him. "Just because we don't have money doesn't mean we don't have skill. I proved I'm at your level, and all I ask from now on is a little respect. Maybe if you didn't treat everyone around you like crap you wouldn't feel so alone all the time. Even if you act like you don't want them you could have friends that stick by you no matter what."

Alara let out a deep breath as she walked away. Mokuba ran past her to his brother's side. She got the wind knocked out of her as Yugi grabbed her in a hug.

"You did it Alara! Congrats!"

"Thanks Yugi. I have to thank you as well."

"Why's that?"

"Your words right before I drew my last card. I had basically given up hope, and thought I had jumped the gun thinking I could actually beat Kaiba. He's the hardest duelist I've faced yet, and I'm still in a little bit of shock I actually beat him."

"You did an amazing job," Yami said as he appeared next to Yugi. "If you don't mind Alara I would like to duel you sometime."

"I'll hold ya to that." Alara and Yugi made their way out of the Kaiba Dome. Kaiba decided he would duel Yugi later he was more concentrated on how Alara had beat him this time.

"You're right about him being obsessed with his duels," Alara said as they climbed into the waiting limo.

"You haven't seen the worst of it yet," Yugi laughed. They arrived back at Alara's apartment in no time. After getting into her apartment Yugi grabbed his things, and headed home.

"Hello Yugi," Solomon greeted as he came in the door. "So how was the study session?"

"It went good."

"Anything exciting happen?"

"Well, actually quite a bit happened."

"Dinner is done why don't you fill me in while we eat." They sat down and began to eat as Yugi started to tell his grandfather everything that happened that day.

"Well, sounds like you two had a very eventful day. How's Alara taking everything in?"

"Surprisingly well, but I just don't think everything has fully settled in yet."

"It may take some time for her to process everything. I'd make sure though if she needs someone to talk to that you're always open to listen. She did experience all of this with you and the Pharaoh, and maybe more comfortable talking to you both." Yugi nodded as he was already expecting for that to happen. "How's the Pharaoh doing with all of this as well?"

"It's a lot for him to process too. He's got so many different emotions he's feeling right now it's really hard to know what he's truly feeling. I want to ask him how he feelings and his thoughts, but I know he needs more time to sort through everything."

"The best thing for both of them is time."

_'Everything is working out like it should,' _she yawned.

_'Yes it is,'_ he replied. _'I don't fully approve of you talking to the Pharaoh, but you have planted a seed of curiosity and awareness.'_

_'I know it was a spur of the moment, but it felt right. Now they are slightly aware, and hopefully won't be walking through everything as blind.'_

_'Even though there is still more risks out there, but compared to that they basically know nothing.'_

_'On a really good note she finally played the card, and was able to control it.'_

_'Yes, and when the time comes hopefully she can just as easily control the second card.'_

Alara: Yes I kicked Kaiba's ass!

Great Job! ^-^

Yami: Finally someone else besides me. At least I was able to get out of this one.

Oh quit whining!

*Alara holds Yami back* Alara: Please review!


	10. Chapter 10: True Spirits

Roseko-chan: Thank you for the follow!

Hhmm not much to say before this one beside I hope you enjoy it, and please review!

I do not own any Yu-Gi-Oh characters. All rights belong to their rightful owners. I do own her original characters and plot

_'Thoughts'_  
**"Phone Conversation"**

~Chapter 10: True Spirits~

Alara laid her head back on the edge of the couch as she let out a deep sigh. She continued to pet Nanu who was asleep on her lap. For the past couple of hours she had been trying to sort through everything that happened that day. She looked at the clock and saw it was almost 10 o'clock. She got up to go to bed since she had to go to school in the morning.

Alara tossed and turned in her sleep as her dream continued to play. She watched the death of her ancestor play over again as she felt the searing pain through her leg. Once again it felt like she could feel the venom running through her veins. As Lanea died once again her eyes snapped open as she jolted up. She looked at the clock as it read 2:15 am before falling back on the pillow. She scratched her forehead as it started to feel like it was burning again. She got up and made her way to the bathroom to splash some water on her face. After splashing water on her face she looked into the mirror. Her eyes opened wide in shock as she saw the glowing eye upon her forehead.

"What the hell!" She continued to stare as the eye slowly faded away. "Um I'm going back to bed, and hopefully this is all just a freaking dream."

Alara slowly dragged herself to the lunch table, and basically fell into the chair.

"Are you ok Alara?" Tea asked.

"Yea, I'm just really tired I didn't get much sleep last night," Alara yawned.

"Why's that?" Tristan asked.

"Just a bad dream," Alara said as her eyes started to shut. It seemed like her eyes had just closed when she heard the bell go off. She groaned as she stood up, and started to drag herself to the next class.

"Alara are you sure you're ok?" Yugi asked coming up next to her. She just shrugged having no energy to even really speak anymore. "Was the dream about the memory?"

Alara nodded and as she slowly responded. "Her death just kept playing over and over, and waking me up. Oh yea, and that eye showed up on my forehead too. What does that mean?"

"Um well I'm not entirely sure. Since you are making a connection to your past maybe there is magic that lays dormant within you that could be waking up."

Alara looked at Yugi and shrugged. "Right now that sounds like a good enough reason for me."

The rest of the week dragged by, and by the end of school on Friday Alara couldn't keep her eyes open at all. Her friends had begun to really worry about her. Yugi had to tell them what happened so they understood what was troubling her so much.

"I think we need to do something to help her," Tea said.

"I'm going to stop by her apartment, and see if I can help her work through any of this," Yugi said.

"Would you mind if we come with ya Yug?" Joey asked.

"Not at all I think she would be happy to see us all. I just want to stop at the shop first before we head over there."

Alara dragged herself in the front door, and then fell down on the couch. Like the past couple of days she tried to take a nap, and tried to catch up on some sleep. She closed her eyes as her exhaustion took over immediately. It seemed for once that she might be able to actually get some sleep as she saw nothing but darkness. It seemed like it had only been five minutes when she heard a knock on the door. As she went to answer the door she was happy to see she had actually been able to sleep for about an hour. She opened the door and was surprised to see all of her friends standing there.

"Hey guys, why are all of you here?" she asked as she rubbed her eyes.

"Well, Yugi told us what happened, and we were really worried since you haven't gotten much sleep. So we all came over to see if we could help you work through it," Joey said happily.

"Oh thanks guys," Alara smiled. "Come on in then, and make yourselves at home." She headed back into the living room as everyone filed in behind her. Nanu came running up to Yugi immediately, and started rubbing against him.

"Hi Nanu I guess you missed me," Yugi asked as he picked the cat up. Everyone else greeted the cat, and followed Alara into the living room.

"Would you guys like something to drink?" Alara asked.

"Oh no," Tea said as she pushed her down on the couch. "You sit and rest we'll take care of everything. Have you really eaten anything?" Alara looked away as her stomach growled. "I'll take that as no. I'm going to make us all a snack if you don't mind." Alara shook her head as she watched Tea grab Joey and Tristan and pulled them into the kitchen. Yugi pulled out a laptop that he was borrowing from his grandfather.

"What are you doing?" Alara asked as she watched Yugi sit down on the couch with it.

"I'm going to help you start sorting this all out so you can actually get some sleep, and be able to function." Alara nodded as she made herself more comfortable.

"So where do we began?"

"Well before hand I typed out what happened in the memory. So, I want to start with all the emotions you are feeling." Yugi and Alara worked through as much as they could when Tea and the boys brought in food. They took a break as they ate their food, and continued working afterwards. After about an hour they had made a lot of progress. Alara felt like she had a lot of pressure lift off her chest as she started to line everything up.

"Are you starting to feel a little better Alara?" Tristan asked.

"Yes, I am. I think I was just dealing with so much I couldn't sort through everything. I should have thought about writing my thoughts and feelings down before. Thanks you guys are awesome."

"What are friends for?" Joey said. "Why don't we all hang out tonight since it is Friday?"

"What do we want to do?" Yugi asked.

"Why don't we go and watch a movie?" Everybody agreed to the idea as Yugi pulled up the movie theater's website on the laptop. They all decided on a movie for later on that night at eight thirty.

"Well, if you all don't mind I want to take a nap," Alara said as she stretched. "I feel like I could actually get some sleep, and not be kept up." Everyone agreed to let her get some sleep, and decided they would all meet in front of the theatre at 8 o'clock.

After everyone left Alara set an alarm for seven so she would have plenty of time to get ready. With a deep sigh and Nanu curled up next to her Alara fell straight to sleep.

Hours later Alara woke up to her alarm going off, and realized that for the first time in four days she actually slept without being woken up once. She jumped out of bed with renewed energy, and started to get ready. She grabbed a pair of skinny jeans, black flats, black tank top, and a blue t-shirt that hung off one shoulder. Her hair looked messy, but she didn't have to the time to take a shower. So she threw it up into a messy bun, and added her plain gold bangles to each wrist. When she was fully satisfied she made her way out the door and to the theatre.

Alara arrived at the theatre just before eight. She saw Yugi standing outside waiting for her with his back to her.

"Hey Yugi," she said as she approached him. He turned around and it shocked her to see it was Yami. "Oops I mean hey Yami."

"It's ok you're the only one that can tell the difference between us," Yami laughed. "It looks like the nap did you some good."

"Yea I feel so much better now. How are you doing with everything yourself?"

"It's been a lot to work through, but I'm doing fine."

Alara nodded as she looked around. "So are we waiting on everyone else?"

"Nope they are inside. I just stayed out here to wait for you."

"Well, thank you I'll get my ticket then we can join everyone else."

"Actually, I already got your ticket," Yami said as he held up the small piece of paper.

"Thank you so much," Alara said slowly. "You know you didn't have to do that."

"I know I just wanted to," Yami smiled as he opened the door. "After you…" Alara smiled as she walked through the door. The two walked over to Tea who was standing by herself.

"Where are the boys Tea?" Alara asked.

"Oh hey Alara they're raiding the snack bar."

"That's no surprise there." Joey and Tristan walked up with their arms full of snacks. "Did you guys get enough crap to eat?"

"Never!" Tristan and Joey said at the same time. Everyone else just shook their head knowing they would never quit.

"Alara you're looking much better," Joey said as he stuffed his mouth full of popcorn.

"I feel so much better," Alara smiled.

"Alright, let's go and get some seats now," Tea said as she walked away, and everyone followed her into the movie.

Hours later the movie was over, and everyone split ways heading home. Yami and Alara walked together since they were going in the same direction. They walked in silence the whole way until they made it to the game shop first.

"Would you like me to walk you home since it's so late?" Yami asked.

"I think I should be fine," Alara replied with a smile.

"Are you sure?" They turned around as they heard noise behind them. Sitting a few feet behind them was the same cat.

"I think I should be fine I have my guardian cat," Alara laughed.

"Oh yes a cat can do so much," Yami sighed as he crossed his arms. The cat growled at him as it walked past. "WHAT?"

"Hey it'll be fine," Alara said as she put a hand on his arm. "Try not to argue with the cat. I'll send you guys a text when I get home."

"Ok," Yami said as he watched Alara walk away and the cat followed close behind her. Yami turned around to see Yugi standing there with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face.

"What?" Yami asked.

"I'm on to you Yami."

"What're you talking about?" Yami asked as he made his way into the game shop. "I'm just worried about her like you are."

"Uh huh you know what I'm talking about!" Yugi said following him.

"No I don't!"

The next week blew by in no time with nothing exciting happened for once. Alara had been able to sleep just fine every night without an interruption. Everyone had gone to the game shop after school to hang out. Joey threw his head back against the couch as he kept flipping through the channels.

"For once we have nothing exciting happening, and of course nothing is on TV," Joey complained.

"Quit complaining," Tea said. "The good part about this is for once we don't have our lives or souls being threatened by some freak."

"She's got a point," Tristan said. Yami and Alara walked back into the living room as everyone turned, and looked at them.

"Where have you two been?" Joey asked.

"We were discussing some personal stuff," Alara said as she crossed her arms. Joey and Tristan looked at each other than back to them with a smile. "Nothing bad just about the memory; can't you two ever mind your own business."

"Nope that's not in our personal description," Tristan said. Alara opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off when her phone began to ring. She excused herself as she walked into the kitchen to take the phone call.

**"Hello Alex what's new?"**

**"I have a few things, and one of them you're not going to like at all."**

**"Ok….give me the good news first."**

**"Well the hallway repair is going well now. They haven't had any collapses yet. They've also made their way to the end of the other two tunnels."**

**"What's in there?"**

**"Mainly what you would find in most of the tombs: pottery, items of possession, furniture, and what not."**

**"Have they touched or moved anything?"**

**"No why?"**

Alara let out the breath she didn't realize she was holding. **"I just want to be on the safe side nothing is set to traps or anything."**

**"Do you really believe that will happen?"**

**"You never know with this kind of stuff. Anyways I want them to document everything they see, and take pictures of it all. When you get it have it emailed to me. So what is the bad news?"**

**"I don't know how or who did it, but the media has found out."**

**"Found out about what?"** Alara felt her anger start to rise as she had a feeling she already knew what.

**"They found out about your parents, and the discovery of Lanea's tomb."**

**"WHAT?"** Alara yelled. Everyone turned and looked towards the kitchen.

"That doesn't sound good," Joey said. Everybody shook their head as they tried to see if they could hear anything else. Alara went out the back door since she knew everyone had heard her.

**"I'm sorry," **Alex said. **"I don't know how it happened. I knew you would be very upset. I already told them in Egypt not to talk to anyone outside the camp."**

**"The information is already out. We can only stop any new information."**

**"True, but that is not the last of it."**

**"What else could there be?"**

**"The media wants a press conference with you."**

Alara released a string of curses under her breath. **"When?"**

**"They wanted later this afternoon, but I was able to push it until Monday afternoon at four thirty so you had some time to prepare."**

**"Alright thank you I'll see you about an hour before that."** Alara sat down on the ground, and rested her head against the shop. "Just my damn luck," she whispered to herself. "It never fails something good happens, and then something has to come along and ruin it."

"You shouldn't put everything down so much." Alara looked down to see the cat sitting on the stone wall at the back of the yard.

"What do you even know?" Alara snapped. "You don't know what I've had to deal with."

"Personally no, but I have been watching over you for some time. I've seen the troubles that you've been struggling with."

"What do I even matter to you?"

"So much, you are part of the future that will be reborn." This sentence struck odd to Alara. She looked at the cat a little more.

"Do you have a name?"

"Yes, I do."

"Will you tell me?"

"Not yet."

"When you make the final decision I will."

"What are you talking about?"

"You'll know it when you finally realize it." With that the cat ran off.

"Just great more questions up in the air I'm trying to find answers to." Alara sighed as she stood up, and headed back inside. Everyone looked at her when she entered the room.

"What?"

"Is everything ok?" Tristan asked. "We heard you yell."

"Yea," she answered as she ran her hand through her hair.

"Do you want to talk about?" Tea asked.

Alara shook her head. "There's nothing really to talk about, just some stuff that happened with the dig site."

Yami walked over to Alara to try and comfort her. He could tell something was really bothering, and it wasn't just about the news she just got. He put a hand on her shoulder as she looked at him. He was saddened to see tears starting to form in her eyes.

"I'm sorry I've got something I need to do for Monday I'm going to head out early," Alara said as she made her way to out of the room, and headed for the front door of the shop.

"Alara what's wrong?" Solomon asked. She ignored him as she continued out the front door. As soon as she was out the door she took off running to nowhere in particular; she just let her feet carry her. She was going to go home, but she knew if anyone followed her that would be the first place they would look. All she knew was all the stress from over the past month was building up. She was so frustrated she couldn't take it or hide it anymore. She felt like she just needed to run until all of her frustration was gone.

Yami burst through the game shop door as he looked around searching for a sign to where Alara had gone.

"Do you see anything?" he asked Yugi as he appeared next to him.

"No I don't," Yugi answered as he became more worried. This didn't seem like something she would do.

"She's headed toward the park." They turned toward the voice, and saw the black cat.

"Thank you," Yami nodded as he took off in the direction of the park. The cat ran after him just in case she should be needed, but she already knew she wouldn't be.

Alara finally stopped at a small hill to catch her breath. She looked behind her, and saw that so far no one had followed her. She sat down to keep watch for anyone trying to for follow her, because for once all she wanted to be was alone. She had almost caught her breath when she saw a shadow in the distance. She stood up and started to walk up the hill as she had recognized the spikey hair.

Yami stopped as they reached the deeper parts of the park. He looked around for any signs of movement, but saw none. It surprised him that they hadn't crossed paths with one person since entering the park.

"I think that's her," Yugi pointed behind Yami. He turned around to see a lone figure walking up the hill. Yami started to head in her direction, but Yugi stopped him. "I don't think we should go rushing toward her so quickly."

"Why not? Apparently something is really bothering her, and I want to figure it out so I can help her."

"I know I want to help to, but she might have run away so she can have some space. She just might need a few minutes alone to think." Yami looked past Yugi to see she had stopped just underneath a large tree. "I think she might have seen us a minute ago. Why don't we act like we're leaving, but get closer by moving through the trees so she can't see us?"

Yami nodded as he moved away trying to block himself from sight. Yugi stayed where he was at knowing from that distance she couldn't see him. He watched as Alara started to climb the tree she had been standing under.

"Be careful," he whispered before turning his attention back to Yami who was about five feet away now. "Alright I think your good slowly make your way towards her."

Alara had watched as Yami stopped and looked around. She thought he looked right at her for a moment before turning, and walking away. She looked up the tree behind her, and decided to climb it. She pushed her way up about three large limbs before sitting down, and looked out to the already setting sun.

"The sun set is so beautiful," she whispered to herself as the tears she fought to contain finally fell.

Yami had made it really close to her when something made him stop. He was standing behind a tree that was about four feet away from Alara. He looked around expecting to see someone standing near him.

_'Can you feel that presence?'_ Yami asked Yugi through their connection so he wouldn't alert Alara.

_'Yes, but I can't figure out where it's coming from.'_

_'It almost feels like it's all around us.'_ He felt Yugi's agreement as he heard a sniffle come from Alara.

"I don't know what I'm doing anymore. Everything keeps hitting me all at once, both the good and the bad. I thought that I could be strong enough for this, and I could handle it but I was wrong. I thought it was be nothing to step in the shoes of my parents, and just take it all over. It hasn't been that easy at all. I can't seem to hide it anymore." Alara leaned her head back against the tree as she tried to control her tears. "I feel like I tried to grow up too fast, and too suddenly. I don't think I can do this at all. I wish you were here to guide me."

Alara looked around as it felt like someone was nearby. Yami's heart was beating rapidly for Yugi had just caught him before Alara had seen him. He had started to walk towards her since he could tell she was becoming more upset.

"No one…that's right no one is here. Even the one person I wouldn't mind being here isn't. Of course it doesn't help that I ran from him. It's weird the connection between us. I would have never thought most of this possible, but strangely it makes so much sense. The connection makes me feel so comfortable around him. I feel as if I could tell him all of my troubles and he could just whisk them away."

"I want to," Yami whispered as he listened to Alara talk.

"I just feel like there is a growing importance of me. I feel like there is a bigger picture that I'm part of, but I haven't seen it yet. What am I to do with my life? What is this important destiny of mine? I don't understand any of this! I'm not strong enough for this…I can't do this alone. I need you here." Alara crossed her legs in front of her chest, and laid her head down while closing her eyes.

"Alara…sweet heart…"

"Please leave me alone," Alara groaned.

"My child, look at me." Alara opened her eyes, and was surprised to see who was sitting there next to her. She shook her head in disbelief, there was no way she had tried to make it possible not to see them. She was too afraid.

"There's no way I tried to block it…how can it be you, mom?" The spirit of her mother smiled back at her.

"Because sweet heart we never truly left you. You may have blocked your vision, but strong spirits can't be blocked. Don't you remember how you could see the spirit following Yugi?"

"Yes…"

"It all works the same."

"What did you mean you never left me?"

Nashira smiled at her daughter. "You wished not to see us so we didn't appear to you."

"Why now then?"

"Because you reached a low moment in your life, you're trying to figure out many different things at once. You may not have called us yourself, but your heart did. You ran from the friends that want to help you the most. You need to be able to trust in yourself and others even when you're at your lowest." Alara looked away as she knew her mother was right. "You must take all of these hardships in your life, and learn from them or you'll never grow. You have to figure out how to work through these things on your own, and you can ask for your friend's help if needed. That is what they are there for."

"I have messed up so bad…haven't I?"

"No not at all. He's a nice boy Alara I don't think you could ever push him away. He cares so much for his friends. You have a long journey ahead of you. Some of it you don't even know about, and you need to be strong for all of it. There will be times that people will look to you for strength and leadership, and you will need to deliver."

Yami had looked around the tree briefly to see Alara was actually talking to her mother. He was so caught up he didn't realize the other spirit that had appeared next to him. When he did see him he jumped back as he asked, "Who are you?"

"You've seen me before you should be able to answer that question."

"I recognize you. Your Nebrus Alara's dad," Yugi said.

"Very good, it's a pleasure to meet the bearer of the Millennium Puzzle, and the spirit of the great Pharaoh." Yami nodded matching his greeting. "I shouldn't have to say much to you do I?"

"I shouldn't think so," Yami replied with a little confusion.

"You made a promise to my daughter that you would help to protect her. I hope you keep that, and guide her in her times of need. Now that we're not around to guide her she's going to need a friend that can do that."

"I promise," both Yami and Yugi said.

"Do you think you can handle that?" Nashira asked her daughter.

"I think so, but what if I can't?"

"Then you look to your friends for guidance," she replied while pointing behind her. She looked behind her to see her father with Yami and Yugi. A smile spread across her face as she started to climb down.

"Dad…"

"Hi sweet heart," he smiled.

"I'm sorry for everything," she said as she looked between her parents and the two boys. "I guess I was being too blind see what I had in front of me."

"You have nothing to apologize for," Yugi said. "You were upset and needed the time to yourself."

"Alara if you ever need us you know where to find us," her father said as he grabbed his wife's hand.

"I do?"

"Yes," her mother answered. "If you ever need us for anything look to your heart, and you'll find the answer." Alara nodded as she watched her parents fade away, and a sense of calm washed over her.

Alara grabbed Yami in a hug as she whispered, "Thank you."

He wrapped his arms around her and whispered back, "Your welcome." The moment of peace and quiet was broken by Alara's stomach growling loudly.

Alara pulled back with a blush. "Sorry, I haven't eaten in a while."

"How long is a while?" Yugi asked as he crossed his arms. Alara mumbled her response hoping he wouldn't hear. "What was that I couldn't hear you?"

"About a day…ok I'm sorry it's just been the stress!"

"Alright that's it," Yami said as he grabbed her hand and started dragging her out of the park. "We're going out for pizza right now!" Alara rolled her eyes as a smile crossed her face.

Alara sat in a booth with Yugi while Yami ordered the pizza. She wasn't paying any attention to anything around her she was just drawing circles on the table with her finger. Yugi had called his grandfather on the way to tell them they had found Alara, and they would be home later.

"So Alara, what happened earlier?" Yugi asked trying to start a conversation. Alara looked up at the translucent boy.

"What are you talking about?"

"When you got the phone call…"

"I got just some really bad news. It was something I was trying to avoid, and now I have to take it head on now," she replied as Yami sat down with two drinks.

"I guess it was about the dig site," Yami said as he heard the beginning of the conversation through Yugi. Alara nodded as she looked away.

With a sigh she continued, "Somebody leaked information to the media, but we don't know who."

"So…" Yugi started as he pieced it together. "…you have to now deal with all of them." Alara nodded as she grabbed her drink. "Why didn't you just tell that's what was wrong?"

"I didn't want to burden you with my issues."

"You would never be doing that. So what do you have to do then?"

"I have to hold a press conference on Monday. I'm really nervous I don't know if I can even prepare for that."

"Well you can think of questions they may ask, and have answers already worked out." Alara nodded as she moved out of the way as they brought the pizza out. They ate in silence as they were lost in their own thoughts. After they finished Yugi suggested they go back to the shop, but all Alara wanted to do was go home herself. They walked her to her front door before she went in she turned and looked at them.

"Thank you guys, once again, for everything. Even though I wanted to be alone you came after me to make sure I was ok. With my parents' help and yours I've been able to open my eyes to see a better side to some of this. You've been the best since day one and I couldn't ask for anything better." With a final smile she turned, and headed into her apartment. Yugi left and headed home hoping that she can push through it, and make it through the press conference.

Even though it wasn't that late Alara went straight to bed. She was exhausted from everything that had happened that day. She fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow. A faint glow appeared outside her bedroom. A small orb of light went through window, and into the bedroom. It floated above her head for a few seconds before floating down to be even with Alara's face.

"Alara…" a female voice whispered from the orb. "Alara, my past and future depends on you. For you to begin to really understand you must see where it all began." The orb flew into her forehead and disappeared.

Alara turned over as a light began to grow in front her eyes. She snapped her eyes open as she looked around, and realized she wasn't in her bedroom anymore.

"I must be dreaming because by the looks of everything I'm in Egypt. This isn't the same compared to Yami's memory." She walked towards a wall as she looked at the hieroglyphs she placed her hand on the wall. She pulled her hand away and saw fresh paint on her hand.

"There's no way…" she said as she backed up. "…if this is fresh then this is Ancient Egypt."


	11. Chapter 11: The Past Starts to Return

BrightLightsBiggerCity: It's quite alright I completely understand and know how you feel! I'm in a accelerated program so every four weeks I'm dealing with either midterms or finals, but I'm glad you were able to catch up. THANK YOU I'm so glad you enjoyed the scene with her parents. I struggled with that scene since I wanted to it to be very touching and uplifting to her low moment, but not over done. I kept thinking I didn't put enough it, but it seems like that wasn't the case. I'm glad you're enjoying the interactions between Yami and Alara I'm just going to say they are going to get cuter! I can't wait to reveal some of the things that happen later! Oh almost forgot thanks for bringing the media subject back up. I had originally not worked it in that they find out who did it they just moved on, and said whatever. But you brought up a good point about it being Kaiba so I added it in (not this chapter), but you get to see more of Alara's pissed off, attitude side.

*Yami walks in and looks around* Where's Alara?

Currently not here...mentally

Yami: What the hell does that mean?

Well physically she's here, but not mentally duh! Why do you want to know anyways?

*Yami's face starts turning slightly red* Uuhh just have to ask her a question...

*Eyes narrow* Ask what?

*Slowly starts to back out* Nothing to worry about I can ask her later.

*Rolls eyes* I swear what are we going to do with him?

Kiyomi: I don't know.

Anyways I do not own any Yu-Gi-Oh characters or the movie Spirited Away. All rights belong to their rightful owners. I do own my original characters and plot.

_'Thoughts'_  
**"Phone Conversation"  
**'Texts'

~Chapter 11: The Past Starts to Return~

Alara turned around as she heard distant voices. She followed them to the source, and soon found her way into what looked like the throne room. She ducked back as someone walked past, but they acted like they didn't even see her. She looked back to the front where she saw two men. She decided to move closer since no one could really see her. She was surprised to see who the older man that was standing looked like.

"That looks like Solomon!" she said out loud, confirming no one heard her.

"My Pharaoh I must ask you a question," the man said.

"What is it Shimon?" the Pharaoh asked looking at him.

"I received news from a friend of my daughter's that the sickness she has been fighting finally took over her. She passed away a few days ago." He looked down sadly.

"I'm very sorry to hear that. I'm guessing your question doesn't pertain to her."

"No, it's about her daughter, my granddaughter. I wished for her to come and live at the palace, when she's old enough she could become one of the royal servants."

"She doesn't have any other family like her father?"

"No, he was killed during the war." The Pharaoh thought for a moment as an idea occurred to him.

"How old is she?"

"She's six."

"She's a year younger than my son. She would make a good playmate for him; he needs a friend his age. Mahad is a good guardian over him, but he will be starting his training soon; the same with Mana. Yes, I think that would be a grand idea." He clapped his hands twice, and within few seconds two servants appeared. They bowed him, and awaited their orders. "Would you please have a room prepared will be having a young girl staying with us. Also will you summon my son in here?" They bowed as they made their way out to make the preparations. "So when is she due to arrive?"

"Well the last letter said it should be sometime today…" Shimon was cut off as they heard a commotion outside the main doors.

"Let me inside!" said a small voice.

"No, you have no right to be here! Leave at once!"

"I do too my grandfather is here." The Pharaoh motioned to the guard on the inside to open the door, and let the child in. A young girl walked through the door with long dark hair that fell to her waist. She had bright blue eyes with dark green speckles that held so much curiosity in them.

Alara gasped as she recognized the younger Lanea immediately. Lanea looked around as she entered the large room. A large smile crossed her face when her eyes landed on Shimon.

She ran at full sprint at him and jumped into his arms. "Grandfather!"

"Lanea, my girl it's so good to see you again. You know that you're being very disrespectful right now." Lanea looked over his shoulder to see the Pharaoh sitting there smiling at her. Her eyes grew wide as she realized what she had done. She ran over in front of the Pharaoh, and knelt down in front him.

"I'm very sorry Pharaoh," she began to say. "I ask for your forgiveness in my disrespect. I was just overjoyed to see my grandfather."

"It's alright child you can rise." Lanea stood up. "You are forgiven I understand completely. Did I hear correctly that your name is Lanea?"

"Yes Pharaoh."

"That's a very beautiful name for a young lady. I heard that you are six years old."

"Thank you and yes Pharaoh."

"You know I have a son that is only a year older than you. Would you like to meet him? It would give you someone to play with during the day."

"Yes Pharaoh," Lanea smiled. The Pharaoh looked to his left to see his shy son poking his head around a column, and waved him over. Alara gasped as she recognized a young Yami instantly. He looked just like Yugi with the bright innocent amethyst eyes. He looked so cute as a young boy, she would have to remember to bug him about it later.

The young boy stopped next to his father, and kept his eyes down casted. "Lanea this is my son Prince…"

"That's odd," Alara whispered. "I saw his lips move, but there was no sound. Wait a minute I think he said Yami's real name. I guess it's really true that everything was wiped clean of his name."

"It's nice to meet you…" Lanea said happily. The boy looked up at her, and nodded his head but said nothing.

"I'm sorry he's a little on the shy side, but I think he'll warm up to you," the Pharaoh said as he gave his son a little push towards the girl. "Now why don't you guys go outside and play." They both nodded and headed out the main door of the throne room. The two men watched them leave before continuing their work for the day.

The scene before Alara faded to black. The next thing she knew she was being woken up by Nanu wanting to be fed. She looked at the clock and saw it was nine forty-two in the morning. As she prepared Nanu's food she was thinking about the dream that she had. It was weird that she had a dream about Lanea's past. She decided instead of getting overwhelmed like last time that she would write down everything that happened. She spent half the day typing the memory on her laptop, and her thoughts and ideas on different things.

When Alara decided to be done for the day she got up and headed into the kitchen to make something to eat. She decided on something simple and easy so she made macaroni and cheese. While the noodles were cooking she heard her phone go off with a text from Yugi.

'Hey, just wanted to see how you were doing today'

'Great, I have news to tell you about.'

'What about?'

'The past.'

'OK…'

'I want to tell you in person. So, I'll wait until I see you next. I'll just leave you guessing and curious.'

'That's not fair! I'm going to come over right now.'

'No you're not I have work to do. I'll talk to ya later.'

'Fine….just to let you know Yami's not happy either.'

'You'll both deal. It's not a life or death situation.' Alara decided she'd work on preparing for the conference tomorrow, but all she really wanted to do was sit down, relax, and watch a movie. She looked at the shelf of movies before finally deciding on Spirited Away. She sat down to watch it as she ate her dinner with Nanu curled up next to her.

The rest of the day was uneventful. That night she was looking forward to having another dream with Lanea's past, but she was disappointed the next morning when she woke up and nothing had happened.

"I guess you can't be that lucky to have two memories happen in a row. I'll just to wait until next time." She made the preparations for tomorrow the best that she could. She dug into the back of her closet, and found the most professional clothes she had. Which she didn't have a lot of not being the overly dressy person every day. She was more comfortable just wearing jeans and a t-shirt. She decided later on that night to take the day off from school. She didn't want to be stressing out about it the whole day there.

* * *

Yugi was flipping through the channels trying to see where Alara's press conference would be aired. Joey was sitting next to Yugi and Tristan on the couch. Tea was sitting on the love seat while Yugi's grandpa sat in the chair.

"Seriously Yug what's the deal? You're flipping through the channels so fast we can't even tell what's on," Joey sighed.

"I realize I'm looking for something."

"What's that anyways? You're hiding a lot from us. You didn't tell us why Alara wasn't at school either."

"As soon as I can find what I'm looking for you'll see." Yugi finally found what he was looking for. The camera was aimed at a podium, but currently no one was standing behind it. He knew had found the right channel for the scrolling banner at the bottom said "Upcoming an interview with the late Professors Nashira and Nebrus Deya's daughter Alara Deya."

"This is it," Yugi said as he turned up the volume a little.

"What? I see nothing, but a podium on the screen," Joey said as he threw his hands up.

"Seriously Joey, do you not read anything?" Tea rolled her eyes.

"Read what?" Tea face palmed at his ignorance.

"Dude read the scrolling banner at the bottom of the frigging screen," Tristan said. Joey took a second to read it, and then realized what was going on.

"Oh…" Yugi looked down at his phone, and it said it was only one minute until four thirty.

"It's starting," Solomon said bringing everyone's attention back to the screen. He was pretty sure that Alara would be able to handle this. She was a very strong woman he just hoped that the reporters wouldn't try to tear her to pieces. They watched as a man came in view of the camera, and introduced whom they would be talking to and what about. Then they saw Alara walk on stage and stand behind the podium. Then Alex came and stood behind her.

"Welcome Miss Deya," said the person whom had been determined earlier that would be asking all of the questions.

"Thank you and good afternoon," Alara replied with a smile.

"First, I want to get through the hard part because I know it may still be hard for you. It was discovered that your parents passed away in accident on their most recent dig site."

"That is correct."

"Do you mind explaining what happened?"

"While a exploring a newly discovered hallway there was a collapsing of the ceiling."

"What is now happening with this hallway?"

"It is currently being rebuilt as we speak. When the rebuild is complete, and it has been deemed safe we will continue to explore the hallway."

"What do you think will be found at the end of this tunnel?"

"We are unsure at the moment, but we are keeping an open mind to the possibilities."

"Now correct me if I'm wrong, but your parents were currently working in the Tomb of the Nameless Pharaoh. Is this where you found the hidden hallway?"

"Yes that's all correct."

"How did you come across it?"

"While exploring one of the large chambers we took a break. I had leaned up against a large pillar, and I slipped hitting a hidden switch behind the pillar."

"Have you found any hint to what may be hidden behind that door and why?"

"After deciphering some of the hieroglyphs we found out that the Nameless Pharaoh had a lover that he was betrothed to. After a tragic accident she was killed. I believed it is her tomb, and he had the tomb built that way so no one would bother her eternal sleep."

"Did you find evidence to what this great Pharaoh's name was or his lover?"

"No, I stopped all major work down there so that the tomb would not be greatly disturbed; except of course for the repair of the hallway."

"Do you plan to return to Egypt to continue working on the dig yourself? If so, then when?"

"I do plan to return at one point in time. I want to continue exploring the tunnels, and discover as much as I can about both of these mysteries. Currently I won't be returning due to me finishing my schooling for high school. I believe I shall return some time after I graduate."

Yugi turned down the volume slightly as they started to ask off topic questions. He looked at everyone as they were all thinking about what they saw.

"I think she handled it pretty well," Joey said.

"Yea, she didn't even look all that nervous at all," Tea agreed.

"My only question is she knows Lanea's name why didn't she tell them?" Tristan asked.

"It's the way you work the media," Solomon said. "You never want to tell them everything you know. You want to keep them guessing at one point or another."

"This is what must of made her so upset on Friday," Tea realized.

"It was," Yugi said. "She was afraid she wouldn't be able to handle it, and would screw it up."

"She didn't she did an amazing job," Solomon said as he stood up. "Come on we promised her a dinner when she returned." Everyone followed him to start the cooking except for Yugi. He continued watching Alara on the screen.

"What's the matter?" Yami asked as he appeared sitting on the arm of the couch.

"Look behind Alara there seems to be shadow."

"It's probably just her shadow from the lighting, where it's just set up weird."

"No watch when she moves," Yugi said as he got up and pointed. "When she moves you can see her shadow following. But this other one just stays off to the side." Yami watched and realized he was right.

"What do you think it is?"

"I'm not sure," Yugi shook his head. "Do you think it could be shadow magic?"

"Possibly when she gets here let's ask her if she felt like something was off?"

About an hour later Alara walked in the front door of the game shop. She let out a deep breath, and relaxed for once since leaving the press conference. As she walked into the living room she was welcomed warmly by everyone with congratulations on a job well done. She looked past everyone, and saw the spirit leaning against the wall. A smile spread across her face for what she was planning for him.

"Thank you everyone."

"Why don't you change into something more comfortable then we can eat," Solomon said. Alara ran upstairs and changed her clothes. When she got back downstairs Yami had taken over for Yugi, and was waiting for her by the door to the kitchen.

"So, what was with that smile earlier?" Yami asked.

"Oh I was thinking about how you cute you looked when you were younger."

"Wait what?" Yami said in confusion. "How do you know what I looked as a kid? Wait is this about that dream?"

"It is," Alara smirked. "I thought it was so cute you had such chubby cheeks." She ran into the kitchen as his cheeks turned a bright red.

"Alara!" she heard him yell as she made it into the kitchen. Everyone turned and looked at her.

"What's going?" Tea asked.

"Oh I just told the Pharaoh how cute he looked when he was a kid."

"How do you know what he looked like?"

"I had a dream the other day, and it seemed like I watched a memory of Lanea's."

"Oh that's so cool!" Tristan said as Yami walked into the kitchen with a scowl on his face. "Why don't you tell us about it?"

"I will as we eat, but I need something." Alara walked over to where Solomon was standing. "I need to borrow something you may have."

"Ok what is it?"

"I need a picture of Yugi when he was around seven years old," she whispered to him. A smile spread across his face as he walked out of the room.

"What are you planning Alara?" Yami asked.

"Nothing, absolutely nothing," she said playing dumb, and avoiding his eye contact. "Why don't we start eating, and I'll explain what happened in the memory." Everyone had just settled down with their food as Solomon reentered the room.

He handed the picture to Alara as he asked, "Will this work?" She kept the picture under the table as she turned it over, and looked at it. She smiled as she was right to see that the picture of a younger Yugi looked exactly like Yami.

"Perfect," she answered with a smile. She looked at Yami whose eyes grew wide. They sat there, and ate while Alara told everyone about the memory.

"So what exactly did a seven year old Prince of Egypt look like?" Tea asked.

"Well, he basically looked like Yugi when he was seven years old. All you need to do is imagine some Egyptian clothes instead of these," she said as she pulled the picture out. She saw a slight flash of light to her left, and looked to see Yugi had taken over again.

"Where did you get that?" he asked as Alara passed it to Tea.

"From someone that was willing to lend me a hand."

"Grandpa! Seriously?" Solomon shrugged his shoulders, and avoided his eye contact.

"Wow, they actually looked that similar?" Tea asked as she passed the picture to Tristan.

"Yep."

"Chubby cheeks and all?"

"Oh yea!" Alara looked at Yugi to see his face bright red, and the transparent spirit next to him with a red face as well. Yugi snatched the picture from Joey before disappearing from the kitchen to hide it.

"You're terrible you know that right?" Yami whispered in her ear.

"I'm not, I'm just having a little fun," she whispered back. "You can't be all big, bad, and serious all of time. You have to have some fun sometimes."

Alara was on her way home after hanging out with everyone else for a while longer. She wasn't paying much attention when she ran into someone.

"Oh man I'm sorry I wasn't paying attention," she said to a boy with white hair.

"That's quite alright. I wasn't paying much attention either. All that matters is that you're ok," he replied with a smile.

"Yes thank you I am."

"Well, have a nice day," he waved as he continued on his way. Alara continued on her way, and didn't think twice about the boy. After a few steps the boy with the white hair turned, and looked at the girl. A dark and evil grin spread across his face.

"What have we here?" he said. "I sense a strong amount of magical energy coming from this woman. We may just have to investigate this."

* * *

Uh oh shit is about to hit the fan! *Looks over to see Alara pinching an annoyed Yami's cheeks*

Yami: Must you keep doing that?

Alara: Yes what happened to your cute chubby cheeks?

Yami: I grew up...

So what did you need to ask her Yami?

Alara: You needed to ask me something?

Yami: Uuhh no I don't know what she's talking...

LIAR!

Yami: You can't prove it!

Kiyomi: You did say you had a question.

*Yami shoots her a glare before running out of the room*

Alara: I'm quite confused on what just happened

I am too since he decided to keep changing his mind.

*Yugi pops up out of nowhere with cute face* Please review!


End file.
